The only Andrew Luck commercial I have seen and it was pre-draft.
Andrew Luck in his lone Nike commercial
The deal has been signed. Training camp is nearly over. The 2012-13 NFL season is just around the corner. So where are all the Andrew Luck ads?
I think my desire to see a Colts quarterback selling me goods and services was ignited earlier this summer. I saw Peyton Manning driving a Buick Verano calling out audibles to the voice activation system and singing its praises. It made me smile, then it made me sad, then it made me say “where the heck are all the Andrew Luck commercials?!?” Sure, Peyton is a seasoned actor by NFL standards. He has been doing commercials for years and his hilarity knows no bounds. He has some of the funniest ads out there, along with hosting a “Saturday Night Live” episode that put Tom Brady’s performance to shame.
(One of Peyton Manning’s Priceless PepTalk commercials for Mastercard in 2007)
Related: My Latest Colts-Related Obsession…
I could leave it at that and just be patient for Andrew to come into his own and take his time with signing endorsements. However, now I have begun to see #2 draft pick Robert Griffin III in ads almost daily. RGIII is telling me to eat Subway because it is “the official training restaurant of Robert Griffin III.” I see him chugging orange Gatorade while he tells me that “Greatness is not given. Greatness is taken.” I have seen images of Washington, D.C. flashing across the screen in RGIII’s Adidas ad. Griffin gets into his opponent’s head who sees him everywhere, as a bus driver, policeman, trainer, security guard until he finally faces him the lightening quick quarterback on the football field. If you think I am exaggerating about the number of RGIII commercials, during his first press conference of training camp RGIII announced he was done making commercials for now. ”“I’m not going to any award shows or doing any commercials during the season. All that’s done. I did my work in the offseason, whether it was with marketing or just football work, making sure I stayed in shape and stayed on top of the playbook. I made sure I did all that, while at the same time making sure I handled my business.” He has done so many ads that he is now retiring from commercial appearances until the end of the season. Seriously?
(Take a good look at RGIII. According to him, there will be no more ads until the season is over.)
This brings me back to my original question: where are all the Andrew Luck commercials? Did Luck’s delay in getting a deal signed hold up his endorsements? Is he waiting to establish himself in the NFL before he begins making commercials? Or is he diligently spending all his free time learning the Colts playbook so that he can become a ferocious Hall of Fame QB one day, effectively leaving no time for developing his acting skills? I certainly hope the reason is the latter but I would be lying if I did not say I was a little bummed. Where are the cinematographic deadpan images of our franchise quarterback? Where is the action sequence of him throwing a laser sharp pass that hits its target perfectly in slow-motion? Where is the voiceover of Luck narrating his work ethic while the viewer then sees a perfect product placement and associates those qualities with said product? NFL is not about the ads but it is about national exposure. There are bragging rights for fans whose players get the high profile endorsements. The national popularity of a franchise and a team is directly related to how commercials your players appear in. When Marshall Faulk got his Nike commercial and was being chased by football players, cars, trucks, helicopters, and jets and outran them all, it was a big deal for Indianapolis. He was the first player to score a major ad like Nike. I remember having the poster of him running out of a tunnel with the Nike swoosh on the bottom. Now that Peyton is gone, I do not want my team to slip into mediocrity. Their record may not be better than 5 or 6 wins, but we still want to retain our superstar status.
(Marshall Faulk Nike ad circa 1995)
