Brand Synergy

With its sequel upcoming and the who's-left-standing-after-injuries of an NBA Finals getting under way, it seemed as good a time as any to rewatch "Space Jam." Michael Jordan was a great basketball player, obviously, but more than that he was a great brand--and still is as sneaker sales and "The Last Dance" (2020) miniseries attest. After all, Air Jordan is reported to have earned "only" a little over $90 million over his career throwing a ball through a hoop, while making near $2 billion and counting from corporate sponsors of the likes of Nike, Gatorade, Hanes, McDonald's, Warner Bros., etc. Actor he is not, though, as evidenced by his lack of personality here even as he plays a version of himself, including glossing over the more sympathetic aspects of his biography such as his father's death that led to his first NBA retirement and stint in baseball minor leagues.

Instead, what we get here is more branding. Aliens from a slave-based amusement park planet called "Moron Mountain" or the "NCAA" or something invade the domain of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes--where Daffy Duck's posterior is even tattooed with the media conglomerate's logo. Convincing the aliens that they must wager such an enslavement over a game of hoops, however, Bugs Bunny and gang enlist the help of another brand, Jordan, to preserve their capitalist empire. Jordan agrees as long as he can advertise his shoes, as well. Newman and "Dan Aykroyd" are brought along for alleged comic relief from the other failed jokes, which even include Bugs and Daffy complaining about their lack of compensation for merchandise bearing their likeness, among everything else being thrown at the wall from pretending Jordan drinks steroids to randomly referencing that favorite family film, "Pulp Fiction" (1994).

Whoever wins the game is irrelevant, as the all mighty dollar is the true victor. Otherwise, the only thing here of slight interest methinks is the NBA being postponed in the movie due to players appearing to be infected by mysterious germs--in fact, the aliens removing their talents from their bodies for their own use in the big game. Aside from the comedic exaggeration of gas masks and wrapping an entire stadium in plastic, rather prescient of what happened to the league, as well as the rest of the world, this past pandemic year. In the end, though, money won again despite players' training and rest patterns being disrupted and their off-season shortened--hence this injury-plagued season.... Bring on the NBA Finals and Space Jam 2, I guess.

(Added to my list of pandemic-related titles.)