Knicks F Carmelo Anthony since last week has been part of a "virtual game of hoops -- with ordinary New Yorkers, down in the subway" as
part of his deal with South Korea-based Kumho Tire, according to Robert Klara of ADWEEK. Kumho "set up a touchscreen video game of pop-a-shot inside the Times Square subway station, complete with a virtual Anthony presiding." Signing a deal with Anthony just before the upcoming NBA All-Star weekend "begged for a stunt that was participatory and New York-centric." Kumho Tire USA Marketing Communications Coordinator Shaina Shieh said, "We wanted to get New Yorkers involved, and we wanted a New Yorker to win." Klara noted the company "faced a number of thematic and logistical problems, among them the constraints of operating underground and limited creative time with Anthony." In order to get "New Yorkers (and lost tourists) to pause and pay attention, Kumho took photos of Anthony passing a ball directly at the video camera." Rendered on screen, the pass "appears to break the glass, complete with sound effects." Pearl Media Senior VP/Business Development Anthony Petrillo, whose firm built and installed the game, said, "You don't expect to hear shattering glass in the subway, so you'll stop and turn." Klara noted the "next challenge" was how to "work a car tire into a basketball game." The solution "took the form of a tire replacing the basketball." The flick of a finger on the touch screen "sends tires into the air, with the user's touch determining whether the radials make the swish or not." Klara reported the game has been "averaging 100 players a day." Petrillo said that "even if tens of thousands of hurried New Yorkers don't wind up playing, the social and word-of-mouth value justifies everyone's time and trouble" (
ADWEEK.com, 2/9).
