LeBron James has been working hard at improving his tarnished reputation this offseason. While he cannot shake his depiction as a late-game choker until the lockout ends and basketball resumes, he is trying to shed his identity as a heartless, self-aggrandizing franchise killer.
There's no better way to do that than by making fun of one's self, which he does in a new McDonald's commercial advertisting their newest Monopoly promotion.
In the ad, an announcer gives odds on a number of occurrences, including winning a prize in Monopoly. When the announcer says "Odds of LeBron James winning seven championships," as James infamously predicted at the Heat's Big Three celebration last year, James simply smiles, shakes his head, and says "Come on, man."
James also wins free fries in the commercial, like he really needed to save a few dollars. What's next, Warren Buffett winning a free Honda Civic?
Certainly, there are plenty of people who will never warm to LeBron, but if he wants large corporations to continue paying him hefty endorsement fees he has to win back some of the detractors he created when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers to form a super-team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The McDonald's ad is but the latest move in that effort. This summer James played in a friendly All-Star summer league game with Kevin Durant and engaged in a playful Twitter fight with Wade. He even poked fun at his own receding hairline, for which he has been ridiculed in the past.
Will it work? He can't make everyone like him, but at least he can get a few to start laughing with him, not at him.
