Mashable recently put out a collection of the 20 most-shared tennis commercials. Oddly, just four of them feature female players, while a solid third (seven) star some scrub named Roger Federer. Interestingly, the Mashable writer asserts that "[W]hen it comes to viral tennis ads, sex doesn’t sell as well as humor." Eat your heart out, Scorn-ikova.
A few thoughts on the clips:
1. We may never know if all those Federer trick shots are true. He says so, but this is where the ad version of Snopes.com is needed.
2. Also re: Fed — that NetJets commercial can go away forever. On the other hand, the "Home Assault" bit is just about perfect.
3. Maria Sharapova's "I Am Pretty" Nike ad is subtly brilliant and expertly made.
4. Something is quite stirring about Na Li's "Strong is Beautiful" ad. If you don't feel it, check your humanity.
5. Good to see Andy Roddick ("Roddick vs. Pong") having fun and being cheeky — something we surely miss on court these days, as he's injured again.
6. Leave it to the Aussies to weird it up, to Wimbledon to class it up, and to Andy Murray to make it uncomfortable.
And here are a pair of favorite tennis ads that sadly didn't make the cut, both featuring a post-comeback Monica Seles having some fun with her image and then fending off some thugs on wheels by way of an old-fashioned shootout. (Question: Who would ever want to get into a tennis shootout with her?)