In a promotion that nobody saw coming, the Atlanta Hawks have produced an OnlyFans parody ahead of the NBA's in-season tournament.
The first-ever NBA in-season tournament kicked off last week and the Hawks will be making their debut on Tuesday, November 14 in a match-up against the Detroit Pistons. The team is looking to get butts in seats by promoting tickets to the games by parodying OnlyFans. It even features the team's mascot, Harry the Hawk, asking to be drawn like one of your French girls.
"Only Hawks fans know where the real action is," the seductive commercial teases. "Only Hawks fans know what they really wanna see. And only Hawks fans know just where to get it. The all-new NBA in-season tournament. Join in and wake up your wild side. Hot five-on-five action." The team has also produced a special landing page on its website, featuring the Only Hawks Fans branding and a breakdown of its schedule and how the in-season tournament works.
Whatever the inspiration was behind the promotion, it's certainly got fans talking. Some fans suggested they thought the ad was harmless fun, while others believe it marks the arrival of "doomsday."
The Atlanta Hawks have done something similar in the past. In 2015, they did a digital marketing campaign based around the cheating website Ashley Madison. Playing with the site's name, the campaign featured three people named Ashley Madison promoting the Hawks' 10-game packages.
"We were talking about how we wanted people to have a love affair with us, and we thought this was a playful way to do it," said team CEO Steve Koonin at the time, per ESPN. "Everyone thought it was a good idea, which actually scared me." No word on whether Koonin had anything to do with the OnlyFans parody, but we wouldn't be surprised if he's involved somehow.
