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KD has a neighbor stalking him, but is it really Nike?

by Royce Young on October 28, 2010 at 12:17 pm 36 Comments

(UPDATE: I got confirmation on this. It’s a social media campaign from Nike.)

I mentioned this in the Bolts, but I thought it deserved a little more attention: There is a person on Twitter that’s also posting YouTube videos called @KD35sneighbor. Basically, “Mathias Murphy” is hiding in the grass across the street taking videos of Kevin Durant ordering pizza, moving in to his house, getting in his car and taking out his trash.

At first glance, it just appears as a super weird, overzealous KD lover (but then again, aren’t we all?) that’s fortunate enough to live next door. But the more you look at it, the more the real culprit kind of reveals itself. (Also as Patrick James pointed out to me, check out the full-sized harp in the moving video. A harp? Really?)

It’s got to be some viral marketing from Nike. Has to.

The giveaway to me is that KD retweeted about the guy taking videos of him. If this were a real thing, it just doesn’t seem like that would happen. KD is following him on Twitter too. Then of course there’s the fact that this is kind of a brilliant viral ploy. The videos are done really well. Almost too well, really. They’re a little too shaky, too informal and too viral-y. Of course I could be wrong here, but to me, it just seems like that’s the case.

Now assuming this is viral marketing, which I’m almost positive it has to be, what’s Nike’s plan? Nike is marketing KD’s normal-ness and how down to earth he is. That’s cool because that’s how KD is, but there’s just something there that makes me a little uncomfortable. Like the part about how KD ordered pizza and the guy says, “I bet his brother answers the door… oh no, it was KD!” Like we’re all supposed to be like, “OH MY GOODNESS KEVIN DURANT GETS HIS OWN HOME FOOD DELIVERIES!”

I appreciate that Kevin Durant is humble and normal as much as anyone. Heck, if KD does anything slightly humble or cool, I write 1,500 words about it. But I just fear the more we play up this angle, the more tired people are going to get of it. SLAM writer Russ Bengtson already kind of started in last night making fun that KD couldn’t wear his halo on the court. If we over-saturate that Durant is so awesome (and I mean we as the national people, so really, not we), could people get all Durant’ed out? I don’t think it’s possible because this stuff isn’t a sham. KD is really, truly, actually this way.

It’s not that I completely don’t like it. The videos are clever, funny and it shows how KD really is. Durant is legit. He’s a regular guy that happens to be awesome at basketball. So why not market that?

But if this is indeed marketing, it just showcases again how Durant is different. Michael Jordan was about marketing his greatness. LeBron has been The King. Kobe had the puppet commercials about all his rings. And here’s Kevin Durant, being marketed as normal and humble. It’s something different. I just hope it’s not something bad.

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29 comments
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Thundergirl2
Thundergirl2 5pts

No kid from OKC speaks like what? Uses proper English.....People remember everyone was not born here, as such, one would not always have a southern draw.. It was good advertisement and fun...can't we accept that and now move on...Thunder UP!

mike
mike 5pts

i met kd on 11/19 n asked him if that kid was really his neighbor n he sed yea.

Ozark
Ozark 5pts

Wow, incoherently punked on by two guys who are much less intelligent than me. I'd respond if I could figure out what you troglodytes are trying to express. Too bad you can't use gestures on the internet.

tbag
tbag 5pts

@Ozark you are so stupid its not even funny. oklahoma is not fcuking kansas. everybody talks like that here

Kevin
Kevin 5pts

@Ozark
seriously??? the accent comment? everybody talks like that in oklahoma. lol idiot

Sean
Sean 5pts

@DizzyDai

Because he's a young guy who loves basketball? Garnett used to shoot baskets in his driveway at night when he first came to Minnesota.

DizzyDai
DizzyDai 5pts

Yeah the more you think about it the faker the vids are. Why would KD be practicing in his drive-way?

Ozark
Ozark 5pts

I remember when I went back east for school. I tried to put on my most neutral speaking voice possible, and the first thing people kept asking me was "where are you from, Alabama?"

When I told them Oklahoma, they would usually then ask something like "is it really flat and dry and ugly there?", to which I said "No, I'm from eastern Oklahoma. You're thinking of Oklahoma City"

Haters gotta hate.

Jamie
Jamie 5pts

I think it is real! if it isnt then that guy is really good at acting creepy, you can hear the bushes moving cause he is creeping in them, plus there is Gatorade for his breakfast, if it was nike you would think they wouldnt want that in the shot, right?

MartzMimic
MartzMimic 5pts

@Jax
And no tipis or hitchin' posts for the horses. Honest to God, when I was in basic training, a kid from New Jersey asked me that.

mullensfan
mullensfan 5pts

What's even creepier is BJ Mullens has a stalker! twitter.com/mullensneighbor

Ozark
Ozark 5pts

I might add that it can't be Oklahoma because nobody was caught on the audio randomly shouting out "Boomer" in public, for no apparent reason.

Or maybe it was just filmed after the MU game...

Royce Young
Royce Young 5pts

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Well played Jax. Well played. Especially the last one.

Jax Raging Bile Duct
Jax Raging Bile Duct 5pts

You know it's viral because there are several Oklahoma things missing.

For example, where are the tornadoes? Exactly. There are none. Everyone knows if you're going to film something in Oklahoma without tornadoes you have to schedule it with Gary England first.

No one in the video is missing teeth.

The sound of wind doesn't totally drown out every other sound that even professional equipment used to film local outdoor commercials can't filter.

No one in the video is 250 pounds over weight.

There isn't a church on any corner. Oklahoma has a church on every corner not already occupied by 7/11. Yes I know it's a neighborhood, if that thought occurred to you, you obviously don't live here.

There may have been 100 ninjas in the videos, but we have more country music singers than Asia has ninjas, and country music stars can't hide behind bushes that well.

There weren't 12 teammates at his house during any video.

girlballer
girlballer 5pts

Dime Magazine has a bit about it up on thier website now too.
Good scoop Royce!

http://dimemag.com/2010/10/kevin-durants-neighbor-is-stalking-him/

PNT
PNT 5pts

KD even uses trash bags that are Thunder blue. ;)

KingGondo
KingGondo 5pts

@chris
Duh, he obviously just built an addition, which apparently includes a recording studio so he can work on his harp career.

If Wayman Tisdale can become a renowned bassist, why can't KD become the world's best harpist? #WHYNOT

chris
chris 5pts

Clearly a viral campaign. The whole thing just seems fake. Checked the twitter page and the videos and the whole thing is too clean and coordinated for some random teenager. Plus they show KD "moving in" to the same house that was featured on tv during the playoffs last year, so there's that.

girlballer
girlballer 5pts

Ozark :

Elegy444 :KD has mad harp skills.

Yeah, but he only plays it for orphans. While he rebuilds their orphanage. After Lebron burned it down.

This is funny.

Mark!
Mark! 5pts

I bet KD's never played a harp. I would bet more that he's better at it than I am.

GreatPlainsGang
GreatPlainsGang 5pts

Ozark :
Obviously not real. Once again, not everyone here has a strong accent, but no kid from Oklahoma sounds that way when he talks. They could have at least recruited a local.

In due time people will know what Oklahoma is like (Well atleast OKC)

Ozark
Ozark 5pts

Elegy444 :KD has mad harp skills.

Yeah, but he only plays it for orphans. While he rebuilds their orphanage. After Lebron burned it down.

Elegy444
Elegy444 5pts

KD has mad harp skills.

chris
chris 5pts

I thought KD drove a GMC conversion van.

KingGondo
KingGondo 5pts

I enjoyed the videos, and it's a pretty clever campaign (assuming that's what it is).

And if KD really drinks Gatorade with his cereal in the morning, gross. Even grosser if he pours it INTO his cereal.

Also, I wonder if his harp skillz are up to par?

girlballer
girlballer 5pts

I'm so glad it NOT actually a neighbor kid stalking him, because my daughter has a couple of friends at school that actually do live on the same street at KD and I was not looking forward to the awkward carpool conversation where I have to tell them to get their kid to knock off the creepy "Blair Witch Project"-esque videos.

After I had watched several of the videos on the YouTube link I was convinced it was fake/marketing anyway because the shot of KD shooting baskets in the driveway is not even the same driveway where he is taking out the trash. AND the window/breakfast shot is not a stucco-sided house like the other vid's either. (and YES I just wasted an unmentionable amount of company time researching YouTube and twitter... Sue me!)

Thomas
Thomas 5pts

I'm amazed they would choose this as the medium to deliver that KD is an average dude. Basically they are faux stalking him here right? That doesn't seem good.

ThunderHorn
ThunderHorn 5pts

I cringe at how fast the media will rip down KD the minute he does or says something that people don't like or that people take out of context.

Ozark
Ozark 5pts

Obviously not real. Once again, not everyone here has a strong accent, but no kid from Oklahoma sounds that way when he talks. They could have at least recruited a local.

Trackbacks

  1. KD Has a Stalker : The Lost Ogle says:
    October 29, 2010 at 12:01 am

    [...] Royce Young points out at DailyThunder.com, this is probably a viral marketing campaign.  But it’s more fun to pretend that it [...]

  2. Does Kevin Durant have a creepy video stalker? | Out of Bounds says:
    October 29, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    [...] apparently the Gatorade bottles were just to throw us off the trail. It’s actually a Nike “social media” ad campaign. Not sure how effective it is, but I like it better than the recent one with LeBron [...]

  3. Kevin Durant has a stalker says:
    October 31, 2010 at 11:16 am

    [...] and for those who dont believe me KD has a neighbor stalking him, but is it really Nike? | Daily Thunder.com [17:49] xixak17: dude you have NO IDEA how hard it is to find hot girls that don't [...]

  4. dustbury.com » Clipped, reclipped, then shorn says:
    November 3, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    [...] Who led the Thunder scoring? Jeff Green, with 19 points and nine boards. Kevin Durant had sixteen on 6-24 (!) shooting, including an amazing 0-10 from beyond the arc. I’m starting to think that Mathias Murphy is starting to get to him. [...]

  5. Five things about Kevin Durant that furrow Ol’ Man Howard’s brow | The Sport News says:
    March 21, 2011 at 10:18 am

    [...] this, now? — "veiled viral marketing campaign" predicated on the notion that your neighbor is stalking you? I only understood about three of those words, but I surely hated all of ‘em. Calling things [...]

  6. LeBron Addresses Haters: 'Luv u all!!' says:
    July 10, 2011 at 11:55 am

    [...] a Twitter campaign whose goal was to show how personable its athletes were as was seen in the KD’s Neighbor campaign from last year. It’s a good move for Nike to move LeBron away from the NBA villain #1 it [...]

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