It was a last-minute addition to the script, but as it goes sometimes in Hollywood, those tweaks end up producing magic.
Along with her team, Danielle Kupchak, executive vice president of global creative content at Paramount Pictures, pulled aside Arnold Schwarzenegger for a conversation.
“This is what he says a lot,” Kupchak explained to the iconic actor. “Would you be open to saying it?”
Schwarzenegger replied, ‘Of course, let’s do it,’ and what ensued on screen was comedic brilliance.
Kawhi Leonard offered a hearty smile and delivered the catchphrase that Schwarzenegger made famous. “Hasta la vista, baby,” said the Los Angeles Clippers superstar. Schwarzenegger then pointed to Leonard and responded, “What it do, baby!”
The commercial, made in conjunction with ESPN, aired back in October on the season’s opening night. It was designed to promote Schwarzenegger’s latest film, Terminator: Dark Fate, but also shone a light on L.A.’s newest sports stars, Leonard and Paul George, who both joined the Clippers in the summer.
Leonard is referred to by many as the NBA’s Terminator due to his expressionless face and mysterious nature, on and off the court. He was the centre of the commercial, which also featured actress Linda Hamilton mercilessly poking fun at his infamous laugh.
“You never know when you send a script over like that,” says Kupchak, who brainstormed and executed the ad spot with her team. “But [Kawhi] was super game for it. That’s a testament to his personality that he’s willing to have fun with himself.”
The commercial was a culmination of sorts for Leonard. Over the previous 13 months, beginning with his introductory press conference in Toronto, he had flipped his public image upside down, going from a superstar who nobody knew anything about to a superstar who was absolutely adored on social media.
“The only other active player who can compete with Kawhi in terms of content engagement is LeBron James,” says Rob Perez, who runs the popular NBA-focused Twitter account @WorldWideWob.
The data backs that up — Leonard was the fifth-most mentioned athlete globally on Twitter in 2019, according to Twitter Canada, trailing only James (No. 4), and a trio of soccer stars, Cristiano Ronaldo (3), Lionel Messi (2) and Neymar (1).
Anything Leonard, 28, says nowadays has the potential to be clipped, GIF’d and turned into a meme. The examples are plentiful: “The Laugh,” “Fun Guy,” “Board Man Gets Paid,” “The Fist Bump,” “What It Do Baby,” “Hey, Hey, Hey.” And when Leonard receives his NBA Championship ring on Wednesday night as the Clippers visit the Raptors in Toronto, there’s ample opportunity for the creation of another classic Internet moment.
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The Kawhi Leonard we know today began to take shape in September 2018, when he was introduced to Toronto during Raptors media day at Scotiabank Arena. That appearance produced the awkward laugh and his assertion that he was a “fun guy.”
You couldn’t find more perfect meme fodder and part of the reason for that was because few had seen or heard from Leonard over the previous year. He played just nine games for the Spurs during the 2017-18 campaign and was in the shadows for the rest.
“It came out of absolutely nowhere,” says Perez. “It was a look into the mind of the most intriguing, puzzling personality the NBA has seen in a long time. When the world experienced this, everything we thought we knew about him was turned on its head. Maybe he really was a fun guy.
“Nobody had answers, just the sentiment of wanting to know more.”
Unlike virtually every NBA player, Leonard has no presence on Twitter or Instagram. He traverses celebrity life almost like a poker player, holding everything close to his chest. So, when Leonard actually does exert moments of authentic emotion, people cling to it, notes Perez.
Sunny Pathak, president of marketing agency NewPath Sports and Entertainment, agrees, adding that it’s not just fans who are attracted to such a personality.
“As a marketer, you’re looking for authenticity. You’re looking for talent to be personable,” Pathak says. “He has his own unique sense of personable, but he never deviates from who he is. He understands the perspective people have about him and he’s in control of his own narrative.”
The marketing team at New Balance had seen Leonard’s Toronto press conference and engaged him in endorsement talks during the early part of his Raptors tenure. The footwear giant was looking for an entry point into the basketball landscape and wanted to plant its flag down as a legitimate brand in the sport.
The privately-owned company can be considered outside the box when compared to, say, Nike, which has long been established in basketball. Leonard represented a different kind of athlete who would jive well with New Balance’s place in the market.
“There’s so much of the same going around everywhere in terms of brands and players and mindset,” says Patrick Cassidy, global marketing director, consumer and athlete activation at New Balance. “And Kawhi, I think everyone agrees, gives off that signal that he’s arguably the most unique athlete in basketball.”
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The company partnered with him during the season and went public with subsequent advertising during the all-star break. By the time the spring came around and Leonard was starring during the Raptors’ playoff run, New Balance posted billboards in Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square featuring the words “Fun Guy” beside an image of Leonard, straight-faced with folded arms.
It was another example of Leonard being OK with poking fun at himself. Cassidy learned from his various meetings with the forward that Leonard was open to any and all ideas.
“What I found is that he’s a creatively funny guy,” Cassidy says. “He has a really strong vision and opinion about design and marketing and product. He is hyper-engaged in all of these things. Not that I didn’t expect that, but I didn’t know what to expect because he was pretty good at keeping his private life private and who he is away from Instagram culture.”
What the player and company found appealing about each other was a chance to co-author aspects of both his image and the brand.
“He’s not a guy who has really put himself out there and that’s a process and evolution that we’re going through together,” says Cassidy. “In that sense for him, even blank slate, you can build and dictate what that’s going to be. A lot of that comes into play with the ‘Fun Guy’ stuff.
“He’s super aware of what is out there in the world. What people are saying about him, what’s trending and that sort of stuff. Also, he’s clearly comfortable and enjoys being in on the joke and what people are saying. … He understands that there is value from that if he leans into it the right way.”
Yonge-Dundas Square eventually became the centre-point of massive city-wide celebrations of the championship that Leonard helped the Raptors attain. He departed the team as a free agent to go home to California, but in his wake, left a model for advertisers to follow in Toronto.
“Agencies sit in boardrooms with their clients attempting to emulate the success of Kawhi’s subtlety and his humour,” says Pathak, who has consulted with brands such as Timberland Canada, American Express, Levi’s and Nike. “We know that from sitting in the conversations.”
He acknowledges that may be the case with emerging Raptors superstar Pascal Siakam, whose endorsement profile has grown and is currently featured in Google commercials that contain a healthy dose of humour.
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Siakam, of course, has ways to go before he makes it to Hollywood. The Paramount Pictures team watched Leonard dominate through the NBA playoffs and earn his Terminator nickname. At that point, they made it a goal to get him involved in the film’s promotional campaign. When he moved to L.A., it became a real possibility.
“When you want to create content that travels, if you can be a part of what people are organically talking about, that always is a big deal because it’s natural to the conversation,” says Kupchak of Leonard’s involvement in the commercial that has now tallied more than 1.07 million views on YouTube.
“Then, it’s basically taking advantage of what people are talking about and giving them a piece of content that they can rally behind and find amusing because it’s very aware of what people are saying about Kawhi.”
As for how Leonard performed during the filming, Kupchak says it was business as usual. He nailed his lines and didn’t need more than a few takes.
“He was very much himself,” she says. “I feel he approached it like he approached anything else. He was very friendly but he definitely was himself. He was kind of quiet. He was exactly what you expect him to be on set. No different.
“He doesn’t change, it feels like. It feels like he is the person who we all say.”
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