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There was a time, even early in Patrick Mahomes’ profession, when the very first thing that got here to thoughts with Andy Reid was his blunderous selections at the tip of video games.
The poor clock administration. The ill-advised timeouts he took. The timeouts he, ill-advisedly, didn’t take.
When you consider Reid now, nevertheless, it’s a good guess one of the primary issues that involves thoughts is … nuggies. And I dare you to not smile as you consider the Kansas City Chiefs coach making an attempt to steal his star quarterback’s meals.
Reid has all the time been revered within the NFL. Deeply so. He has essentially the most wins of any lively NFL coach, and took two groups, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chiefs, to the Super Bowl. He’s received two Super Bowls since 2020 and will make it a third Sunday.
But his commercials with Mahomes are so entertaining and so endearing, they’ve reworked Reid’s persona amongst informal followers from one prompting expletives and angst into that of the NFL’s favourite teddy bear.
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“He’s got a look and a way about him that I think is endearing to fans,” stated David Schwab, an government vice chairman at Octagon who has specialised in celeb and model offers for 20 years.
“The hard-core Chiefs fans, they’re going to care more about wins and losses. But that’s not marketing. Marketing is, ‘What does the common man or woman think about you? Does the creative (theme of an ad) appeal to me and how I think?’ And I think he works for that.”
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To be clear, Reid isn’t appearing within the adverts. The man you see is identical man his gamers have identified — and liked — for years. He doesn’t take himself severely, favoring Hawaiian shirts or group gear over fits and speaking enthusiastically about meals any time he’s given the possibility.
He doesn’t flaunt his intelligence, soccer or in any other case, and reveals little of the suspicion or ego that may plague coaches once they attain his stage of success. Not naming names or something …
“I didn’t realize he was such a man of few words. He says so little, yet says so much. His team meetings crack me up — literally 30 seconds, a minute — and we’re off and running,” linebacker Drue Tranquill, who got here to the Chiefs this season after spending the final 4 with the AFC West-rival Los Angeles Chargers, instructed USA TODAY Sports.
“He’s a very routine man, a man who’s found a way to get things done in this league and has stuck to it,” Tranquill added. “He’s a man of principle, and I’ve really enjoyed playing for him.”
Reid additionally has a wry humorousness and excellent comedic timing. After Taylor Swift made her first look at a Chiefs sport and Reid was requested what he knew about her relationship with tight finish Travis Kelce, Reid stated he’d met the pop celebrity earlier than.
He then paused earlier than delivering the punchline.
“I set ‘em up,” he said with a grin. “I’ll depart you with that.”
And with that, he left the rostrum.
“Fans and consumers can really see through inauthentic personas,” stated Angeline Close Scheinbaum, an affiliate professor of promoting at Clemson and co-author of “Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion.”
“Especially with public figures like this,” she added, “it’s just refreshing to see a human brand, to see these people we usually see in a very serious context, be in a more light-hearted one.”
The better part is Reid got here by his profession as a pitchman organically. He didn’t do it for cash or fame. He did it as a favor to his quarterback.
Mahomes was already doing adverts for State Farm, one of his sponsors, and the quarterback was requested if he thought Reid can be keen to affix him.
“I was like, ‘Man, I’ll ask him, but I just don’t know if he’ll do it,’ ” Mahomes recalled during an October 2022 interview with KCSP, a Kansas City radio station.
“When I asked him, he asked me about it. He’s like, ‘Do you want me to?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I think it’d be cool for people to be able to see your personality on a different level, on a different scale,’ ” Mahomes stated.
That first ad, in which Reid reveals he likes to draw mustaches on his players’ faces while they sleep, has led to several more with Mahomes for State Farm. Reid also appeared on his own in a reboot of a 1996 Snickers ad in which the person painting the end zone misspells “Chiefs.”
“His persona is good and different from others,” Schwab said. “I think that’s what has allowed it to work.”
Schwab said he doesn’t know that Reid’s commercial success will open doors for other coaches because there are already opportunities there. College coaches Deion Sanders and Dawn Staley are in ads for AFLAC, while Jon Gruden, Mike Ditka and even Tom Landry did commercials in their day.
What it could do, Schwab said, is give creative directors the freedom to “write against the script,” showcasing a coach’s humor and personality rather than pigeonholing him into the gruff, tough stereotype of an NFL coach.
Not that Reid cares about any of that. Nor does he care about his increased visibility or the fact it’s made people think of him in a warmer, fuzzier light.
“I don’t want to stand up here and sound like a movie star. I’m not very good at that,” he said last week. “But I appreciate people enjoying ‘nuggies.’ “
Contributing: Nate Davis
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
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