Shaquille O’Neal is in a Chinese beer commercial, too (VIDEO)
On Tuesday, we featured a Chinese beer commercial in which Tracy McGrady has difficulty knocking down a basketball stuck between the rim and backboard. It's a cute ad, but also a sobering reminder that Tracy McGrady is pretty old now for a basketball player.
Despite his advanced age, McGrady is considerably less old than the now-retired Shaquille O'Neal. But Shaq is still one of the most recognizable basketball figures in the world, so he has appeared in his own ad for the same Chinese beer. You can watch it above (via TBJ and IamaGM.com).
The concept is advertisement boilerplate, with a Chinese basketball fan unzipping himself to reveal that he is really Shaquille O'Neal (and a friend doing the same to become some person I do not recognize). They battle for the beer in a one-on-one game, which Shaq wins. However, a pretty, very skinny woman takes it from him. But in reality she has lots of beer! Everyone is happy! Before you call this ad out for being ridiculous, please note that American beer companies were making spots like this one roughly 15 years ago.
In addition to being a weird piece of Chinese culture, this ad also helps explain why Shaq is probably not going to become a general manager any time soon. When people will pay you good money for a few hours of ridiculously easy work, why do anything that guarantees criticism from the public? Come to think of it, why is Shaq doing TNT, too? He should just dance on TV in foreign countries until that cash source dries up. It looks fun!
