Why does Shaq stoop to this level?

[bdonovan]

Just saw an ad for "The General" insurance on TV starring Shaq. My first thought was: Didn't Shaq earn enough in his playing career and endorsements to not have to do this? This view was compounded after the ad:

- Made fun of Shaq's poor free throw shooting
- Had "The General", a cartoon character mascot, bounce a ball of Shaq's head for no particular reason (the footage seems to have a real ball bouncing of Shaq's head).

"The General" is not exactly a household name insurance. It seems to be one of those companies that gets customers through late-night advertising. The ad itself has really poor production values. The end of the ad has Shaq looking silly riding shotgun while "The General" drives a car. You can see what I mean here (this wasn't the actual ad I saw on TV but it's close)

I can understand Shaq earning whatever he does as a commentator/TV analyst- that is an interesting and high visibility position, whether he needs the money or not. But filming this kind of degrading commercial, despite his earning $290M from his playing salary alone, seems like an unfortunate choice.

[CAstill]

Are you serious? Call the General now!

[warriorfan]

shaq likes money and seeing himself on tv

[iamgine]

Stoop to what level? He has a rate, and if 'the general' is willing to pay it, then what's the problem.

[bigkingsfan]

Did you miss his CSGO commercial, among his others.

[G-train]

Shaq will be President of the USA one day.
Heard it here first.

[Orlando Magic]

Pretty sure Shaq has said before that he only endorses products that he supports. Additionally, he makes more from endorsements annually than 99% of the NBA makes in salary annually. He's not stooping to anything. He's not hurting for money.

[NZStreetBaller]

Lol the man is smarter then people give him credit for....

http://thehustle.co/shaq-is-a-heck-of-an-investor

[Prime_Shaq]

[eriX]

Did you miss his CSGO commercial, among his others.

But he partly owns a CSGO team

[Ai2death]

Shaq invest in pretty kmuch everything & anything.

He doesn't take himself seriously at all, he's not worried about people making fun of his free throw shooting, he knows he was a great player & over his career he hit that ones that count.

[Goofsta Knicca]

Haters are just salty.










Shaq is da man.

[Prime_Shaq]

You just gave me the weirdest boner bro.

[ralph_i_el]

From all accounts Shaq is a savvy businessman. His brand is goofiness, so this wouldn't hurt his celebrity stock.

He reportedly invested the entirety of his salary as a player, only spending endorsement money.

Perhaps he still has that habit? Maybe all his commentator money is being invested, and he does goofy stuff like this for some money to do dumb stuff with.


It's probably because he wants to do everything he can to set up his family for generations. He seems like he puts a lot of importance on being a good father, because his biological father wasn't there for him, but he was really close with his adoptive dad. Just a hunch

[ArbitraryWater]

Shaq invest in pretty kmuch everything & anything.

He doesn't take himself seriously at all, he's not worried about people making fun of his free throw shooting, he knows he was a great player & over his career he hit that ones that count.

This doesnt sound like Shaq at all