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This piece was originally published on September 10, 2020.
Unfortunately, that team is the 1994 New York Knicks.
However, one commercial distinguished itself as an innovator and pioneer.
One commercial reimagined the possibilities of product branding and celebrity endorsement.
One commercialfeatured Richard Lewis waxing poeticabout a juice box for adults.
Many things leapt off the screen: the dark, edgy set aesthetic and silhouette lighting.
Lewiss flowing mullet and all-black attire.
This was art, a personal and brand manifesto.
We had to know more.
Were there other ads?
How, we wondered, did this happen?
So they were very anxious to get this going.
The environment early on, in the early 90s, was growth.
We had to be a little bit irreverent, former BoKu marketing executive Nick Andrus explains.
The idea of a celebrity spokesman was discussed at length.
They felt Lewiss comedy and all-black wardrobe suited the brand identity.
He was in that target audience age group at the time.
He seemed like a natural fit, Andrus says.
I mean, I dont like fruit juice, Lewis says.
Im the De Niro of commercials with this one.
I was doing concerts, Carnegie Hall, and all of that.
They wanted me to be me, yknow?
To say that Ive been typecast would be an understatement, he says.
He appreciated the freedom.
They allowed me to inject my words, he says.
You usually dont get that opportunity.
I dont do anything unless I can do that.
Lets use that as much as we can, he adds.
They [allowed] me to be myself.
Lewis says he rewatched all the commercials on YouTube the night before we spoke.
They were pretty trippy.
They were funny, he says.
Quite frankly, I thought I was having a nervous breakdown watching them all at once.
And the ads were a hit.
It just took off like a rocket, says Jenkin.
It was a chart we looked at a few times.
Pressure mounted from within McCain to parlay the success of BoKu into bigger things.
Specifically, large glass bottles.
We really had to leverage this brand and the expense of the investment in advertising, says Jenkin.
They took [BoKu] into glass, multi-serve containers, 48 ounces.
But it didnt work.
By mid-1993, BoKus share of the juice-box market was virtually nil.
By April 2000,McCain Citrus was acquired by Pasco Beverage Group.
No, I say, even better: the playoff run of the 1994 New York Knicks.
I went to both games in Houston.
ItsLaettners shot,the Miracle on Ice,Buster Douglas dropping Tyson.
Were talkin pull tab!, Lewis says in reminiscence.
I was very proud to endorse that, by the way.
