The Showdown (Jordan vs. Bird)
McDonald's1993
The Showdown (Jordan vs. Bird) is a 1993 60-second television commercial for McDonald's, created by Leo Burnett, Chicago.
The line
Nothing but net.
Why it works
Michael Jordan and Larry Bird play an escalating game of H-O-R-S-E for a Big Mac — "off the expressway, over the river, off the billboard, through the window, off the wall... nothing but net" — ending with both players lining up a shot from the top of the John Hancock Center. Aired during Super Bowl XXVII on January 31, 1993, it won USA Today's Ad Meter and "nothing but net" entered the American vernacular. It is studied as the archetype of celebrity-athlete advertising done right: the stars play a believable version of themselves, the product is the stakes rather than the subject, and the escalation structure (each shot more absurd) gives the spot a comic engine that works in any language. It inspired sequels and, indirectly, the premise of Space Jam.
Techniques
- Testimonial and endorsement Two basketball greats play believable versions of themselves, with the burger as the stakes rather than the subject of their contest.
- Humour Each trick shot is more absurd than the last, off a billboard and through a window, until both aim from atop a skyscraper.
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