Snickers – “Basketball” (Patrick Chewing)

“Basketball” is one of my favorite commercials; it’s the only one that’s made me laugh uncontrollably more than once. It features Patrick Ewing dunking on some guy eating a Snickers bar. I wanted to write about this commercial closer to the recent NBA All-Star Weekend in New York, where Ewing spent most of his Hall of Fame career.

Ewing only has two spoken lines, but his bully character and ridiculous dunk make them funny. Ewing’s delivery of “Oops” at the end is one-part deadpan and one-part sarcasm, and I think it’s the funniest part of the commercial. The “Get dunked on by Patrick Chewing” tagline is appealing because of its sports lingo and clever wordplay. The modified Snickers logo is still recognizable.

I usually don’t like over-the-top commercials, like the Old Spice ones, but this one is over-the-top in moderation. Propers to TBWA Chiat Day New York and the other companies involved, including The Mill, which handled the post-production and visual effects.