Breaking news: Professional basketball player jumps real high.

"Viral marketing" is an advertising buzzword that's gained a lot of momentum since YouTube popped up. Basically since Tivo caused people to stop watching commercials (so they say) advertisers have had to create clever ways to bombard unsuspecting people with their shit without, you know, just coming out and saying "buy this."

The latest internet sensation comes from Nike. Kobe Bryant jumps over a moving car. I enjoyed watching it. And it's impressive - I couldn't jump over an oncoming skateboard without breaking my ankle in fifteen places.

It's perfect for YouTube. This is exactly what YouTube was created for, right? And, as Nike probably predicted, people are starting to debate whether or not he actually jumped over the car. Is it real? Is it fake? I can answer that. Of course it's fake. The Lakers are gonna let their superstar face off with a speeding sports car? Doubtful. Nike is gonna risk killing their biggest client? Nuh uh. Kobe Bryant actually has friends? Nope.

Maybe I'm hyper-aware/cynical about marketing ploys because I work in advertising. I think it was a smart thing to do, since millions and millions of people have now seen their new shoe, and it probably used up all of 2% of their ad budget. I'm just sad because inevitably we're gonna see a headline come Monday morning that says "Stupid Man Killed Trying to Imitate Nike Ad, Jump Over Moving Car."

I've officially changed the name of this blog again. After it was discovered that some 9,000 people had also been using "There Will Be Blog," I cleverly changed it to "South Bert Southwest" and then paid homage to "AK All Day" by changing it to "RK All Day." This new one comes from El Capitan and is actually very funny (in the "HAR!HAR!HAR!" sense). AND there are only two other blogs with this name! So here it is. Enjoy.