Kobe Bryant News: Mamba & Messi’s Turkish Air Ad Wins Award

The NBA Finals are finally here. After waiting for over a week, we finally get to see the two best teams in the NBA go head-to-head for a chance at hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy. It’s a shame Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are not in that position, but hopefully they will be there soon.

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In the mean time, Bryant keeps racking up awards, but not on the hardwood. In the 2013, Bryant teamed up with the great Lionel Messi to film a commercial for Turkish Airlines and it was amazing. You have two of the greatest athletes that ever lived in the same ad? It was destined for greatness.

Bryant and Messi had a “Selfie Shootout” and both competitors were trying to come out on top. Bryant and Messi combined to create an excellent ad and the public agreed. According to Adweek.com, YouTube has crowned the Kobe and Messi commercial as the ad of the decade:

"Turkish Airlines’ “Kobe vs. Messi: The Selfie Shootout” commercial from 2013 ran away with the public vote and has been named ad of the decade by YouTube, as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations. The runner-up was Volkswagen’s beloved 2011 Super Bowl spot “The Force,” with a mini Darth Vader bending a Passat to his will."

This is a pretty big accomplishment for Turkish Airlines. We don’t know how much they paid Bryant and Messi to appear in the ad, but it’s paid off. They have 141 million views on YouTube and now it’s officially the ad of the decade.

Kobe by himself is marketing gold, but the same could be said for Messi. They are both global superstars and together they combined to make an entertaining and funny commercial. The one minute ad campaign will cheer you up if you’re having a bad day.