It wasn’t exactly the Chevy Guy moment from the World Series, but GMC and Chevy again found a way to extend their NFL partnership in its last year by taking the mundane afterthought, the presentation of a new vehicle to the Super Bowl MVP, and extending the shelf life of the announcement beyond the quick window such a moment usually has.
The events in the final seconds of last weekend’s Super Bowl have been played out and discussed tine and time again this past week, with instant heroes like the Seahawks receiver Chris Matthews rising and falling in the crazy turn of events in the game’s final seconds, but perhaps no player short of the Giants’ David Tyree against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII has been so thrust into the spotlight than New England defensive back Malcolm Butler. From afterthought on the roster to hardworking player to victim of an almost forgotten crazy Seahawks catch just seconds before to Super Bowl hero for his last second goal line interception that sealed a Patriots victory, Butler rode a wave of instant fame like few others. Disney jumped on the bandwagon immediately by pulling him into their famous annual campaign, and then Chevy got a great bounce when Tom Brady, Super Bowl MVP, came up with the idea during a Tuesday radio show to give his gift, a Chevy truck, to Butler. Now it’s not the first time Brady, who probably has enough cars and trucks already for him and his family, has gifted the prize. He donated the car he won as Super Bowl XXXVIII MVP to his high school, which then raised $365,000 from a raffle associated with it. However passing it along to Butler, himself now a media darling, was a coups for Chevy as well, getting them a great piece of added value after the game’s final seconds and their media spotlight has closed.
The window was extended further when, according to ESPN.com, because of tax purposes, the presentation will now happen at a Boston event by Chevy this week vs. Brady just forwarding the gift for delivery to Butler. A Brady handoff meant he had to pay taxes on the car, which will now get shifted to Butler if Chevy gifts it themselves, and that event gets them another bang for their brand.
While certainly not the crazy moment we documented last week around the World Series presentation that went viral, it is another great example of how a fortuitous, and definitely unseen shift got GMC added value, and how their smart thinking created even more exposure as their NFL partnership rides into the sunset.
