For those of you who were not yet alive, the 1980’s were a glorious time. Non-ironic mullets were flowing, hair bands ruled the airwaves, and at least at the end of the decade, the Detroit Pistons were good.
Admittedly, other than the Pistons’ part, the rest of the 80’s were a time best left in the past, as it was the height of cheese, and looking back, just about everything was worthy of a full-body cringe.
That includes the brief period when professional sports’ teams started making rap videos. I’m not sure if the Chicago Bears started the whole thing, but the Superbowl Shuffle was the first big hit. It’s hard to believe, but people actually thought this was cool, though looking back on it now, it has aged about as well as one of those perms with the tall bangs (we called it the Public School Puff).
It was an innocent time (not really) when people lacked all self awareness, and everyone was trying to get in on this new phenomenon called “rap,” which led to some embarrassing moments.
The Detroit Pistons were not immune and did an ad for a local sporting goods store that they probably wish could be scrubbed from the Internet.
Detroit Pistons: Classic TV ad changed the rap game
Rap and hip-hop had been around long before this TV commercial came out, but the mid to late 80’s was when it really went mainstream, with often comical results.
Prepare yourself to hear the bars the changed the rap game (professional sports/shoe ad division):
This Pistons commercial from 1987 is pure gold. pic.twitter.com/c11pum1WcU
— Hoops Nostalgia (@HoopsNostalgia) March 17, 2023
What can you say other than that this is pretty much a perfect representation of the 1980’s, as it has all of the cheese and lack of self awareness that became the hallmarks of the decade. It really is perfect.
The only mistake was not giving Chuck Nevitt his own featured verse, as that mustache coupled with those moves deserved a bigger spotlight. If you are on Ebay looking for a pair of those Puma “Grass Cats,” I don’t blame you.
If as a Detroit fan you needed another reason to hate the Chicago Bears, then blame them for popularizing the team rap (which TEN other NFL teams did apparently) and having its cultural stain splatter onto the Detroit Pistons.