I was thinking about Olympic athletes, and how it was
surprising there weren’t more athletes who specialized in more then one event
(because jocks are usually good at lots of sports, and in a smaller country, it
could happen more often), and that reminded me of the old Nike ad campaign from
my college days: “Bo Knows”. These were because there was an athlete named Bo
Jackson who was both a pro football and a pro baseball star at the same time,
and so the ad basically exaggerated to a ridiculous extreme this idea that Bo
Jackson was a world-class athlete at every sport imaginable (like Indy racing, hockey, cycling, soccer, golf,
horseracing: you name it. {Maybe even cricket!}). And then this made me think
of another famous Bo.
President Obama has a dog named Bo, and I thought it might
be fun to have a dog food ad campaign about Bo, using the “Bo Knows” thing. The
selling point of the dog food could be about how it’s great for energy and
nutrition and stuff, so it would help your dog be great at physical exercise
and intelligence, and so they could use perhaps the world’s most famous dog for
a re-run of what is perhaps one of the world’s most famous sports-related ad
campaigns.
So then they could show Bo running, and they could say: “Bo
knows running.” Then they could show Bo playing fetch, and they could say: “Bo
knows fetch.” And they could show Bo rolling over and jumping around, and they
could say: “Bo knows gymnastics.” (Etc.) And maybe they could show Bo walking
out of a political meeting, or barking at a reporter, and they could say: “Bo
knows politics.” And perhaps they might show Bo chasing a squirrel up a tree,
or licking someone’s hand, and say: “Bo knows diplomacy.” And then they could
say that (whatever brand of dog food) helps give the requisite nutrition and
stuff to allow Bo to be so intelligent and perform so well at everything. (And as the tag, they could show Bo carrying a large stick in his mouth, and they could say: “Bo knows big stick ideology.”)
In any case, I think it would be a really cute ad. (But it
may not be possible while President Obama is in office, as it might be
considered a conflict of interest. Unless maybe they could get The Dog
Whisperer to translate Bo saying it’s not his fault his owner is the President,
and he doesn’t see how that should affect his career possibilities, since he
does not influence policy, etc. Plus, Bo could say that he’s only trying to make sure the Obamas have a source of income just in case his owner loses the upcoming presidential election.)
Here’s the old “Bo Knows” Nike ad I’m referencing (and there
were lots more, too!):
