CarMax Ads Featuring WNBA Star Sue Bird are Creating a Major Stir

Recently CarMax ads that feature WNBA superstar basketball player Sue Bird have gone viral and have created some major buzz.

Bird is considered among the best to play pro basketball and is featured in a series of advertisements for the company that went viral on social media.

According to sports marketing professor Nancy Lough, who spoke to CNBC, the ads represent a “new standard” for elevating female athletes.

“She’s won championships in different decades with the same team. She’s just an icon,” remarked senior copywriter Graham Unterberger

The Seattle Storm player is featured in ads that are a part of CarMax’s “Call Your Shot” campaign. They had been released earlier this month but went viral on Twitter over the weekend.

The spot gaining the most attention starred Bird and it may be because she is a female who has an impressive winning history that is better than many male players.

“I think it’s setting a new standard because it has resonated so positively with so many people,” said Lough, who is a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Lough told CNBC that “today’s consumer is smart. They want to be respected. Women want to be respected, but men appreciate that [there] needs to be respect across the board.”

In one ad, a CarMax associate tells NBA player Steph Curry, “Man, if you’d have told me this morning I’d be working with a four-time champ …” He is interrupted by the Golden State Warriors player before he can finish his sentence who tells him he only won three league titles.

“I sold a car to Sue Bird,” the employee says in the ad, pointing across at Bird.
“Eleven all-star appearances, can you imagine?” the salesman asks. Curry responds, “I mean, I’m working on it.”

Graham Unterberger, a senior copywriter at the Martin Agency, which worked on the CarMax campaign commented to CNBC, “When we saw her name, we were like, ‘This is freaking awesome. We have the best basketball player on the planet that we can write spots for.

After writing spots, we saw the potential to pair [Curry and Bird] together.”

“Historically, traditionally and very commonplace today, a WNBA athlete being compared to an NBA athlete is always positioned as though the WNBA is lesser than, and, in this case, we actually get to see that flipped in a really fun and clever and novel new way,” Lough explained.

“To us, when you think about the WNBA’s rise in recent years, Sue Bird is a huge part of that history and a huge part of bringing that game forward,” said Unterberger. “She’s won championships in different decades with the same team. She’s just an icon.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.