Has LeBron James always been an early riser?
Well, he’s never had much time for the snooze button.
“I’ve always kind of been a morning person,” the Los Angeles Lakers basketball star tells Forbes. “Over the last I would say 16 years I have turned more into a morning person, because you start to have kids, and when you start to have kids, you don’t really get to decide if you want to be at night or morning person. You are a what-they-are person.”
On Thursday, James’ morning routine took center stage in a campaign for Pepsi’s new Mtn Dew Rise morning energy drink. The TV spot is Pepsi’s first major campaign starring James since it poached him from Coca-Cola, which he represented for 17 years. The partnership, announced in March, is part of a broader multiyear deal across the company’s beverages and snacks. It’s also the first time Pepsi has made a deal with a star of James’ caliber to launch a new brand.
The ad aims to inspire people to start their days right, and with something other than coffee. But unlike a lot of motivational ads starring athletes, the 60-second spot takes a humorous tone when it comes to what King James might be like if he “snoozed.”
Through a series of vignettes, the ad shows James skipping practice to watch cartoons, ordering pizza to his house, doing laundry at a laundromat, mowing the lawn on a riding lawnmower and even salsa dancing at Le Grande LeBron Salsa Studio.
As James takes a swig of Mtn Dew Rise, the spot takes on a more serious, but optimistic, tone; as the music changes, a group of James clones are shown lifting weights. But other than a quick shot of him doing a slam dunk, James’ basketball skills don’t appear in the ad. Instead, his work off the court is featured, including a nod to the “I Promise” public elementary school he founded in Akron, Ohio. The spot ends with a scene of James and his family doing a TikTok dance before he answers the phone to tell someone about another “great idea.”
In an interview about the campaign, James says the goal was to help people “rise above the naysayers, rise above the self doubt, rise above and get the most out of that day and more than the day before and to be the best you.”
“That’s what most important,” he says. “I didn’t even need to hear about the actual product. I just loved that (concept) from the beginning. And obviously the product is damn good too, but just hearing that is something that I’ve always been about—just being able to rise above it all. And it fits into my portfolio perfectly.”
The energy drink category has been growing consistently for the past five years, according to Fabiola Torres, CMO and SVP for PepsiCo’s energy products. The company has also been increasingly testing and learning about e-commerce channels during the past year and recently developed new packaging. The Rise campaign rollout also includes an augmented reality filter on Snapchat and Instagram featuring the brand’s lion icon.
“We couldn’t find a better fit than LeBron,” Torres says. “As his career continues to progress on and off the court, and he has been thriving through anything that he’s put his mind behind. He’s a multifaceted, successful entrepreneur and basketball player and an icon today. We wanted to make sure that as we create an iconic product that fits with his personality.”
Rise was developed during the pandemic, as Pepsi sought to understand how to boost both energy and immune systems. During consumer testing, Torres says they learned that mood effects flavor palates.
“A lot of the different moods during the pandemic affected the flavor palates as well as the type of products that they preferred during the day or to start their day or to give an extra boost during the day,” she says.
So how does Mtn Dew Rise differ from coffee, in terms of its morning jolt?
“I’m a guy with a lot of energy, to be honest,” James says. “So I have yet to drink it on E (empty) and see if I can get that extra boost. But I don’t really get on E too much. I like to get to about half tank and then get back to full go, but I really enjoy it.”
James usually starts his day between 7:30 and 8 a.m., depending on game schedules. After breakfast, it’s off to the facility in Los Angeles or Staples Arena. He also likes to set daily goals. These days, they include getting Covid-19 tests, as well as making time for meals and calls with family.
“Instead of setting goals, I just wanted to maximize the day,” he says. “I want to maximize everything that’s going on that day.”
But the secret to staying awake? Naps, followed by meditation and bodywork.
“On game days, I always like to get a good nap in,” he says. “I’m a big napper. It kind of calms my nerves on game days, and then I nap for two or three hours and then it’s go-time.”
When asked what prompted the switch from Coke to Pepsi, James says he’s “a big believer that timing is everything.” While he says he had a good relationship with Coca-Cola, he was also attracted to the way that Pepsi was thinking about issues important to him, such as education, social justice and community development.
“We preach being great and being able to rise every day and maximize it every day,” he says. “And I talk about social injustice and things that go on in communities—not only in mine but in every community in America. We talked about the ‘More Than A Vote’ campaign initiative and about voter suppression and things of that nature. We’re just trying to not only educate, but also lend a hand and also empower people to want to be better.”
During his career, King James has courted a number of notable sponsorships: AT&T, Beats, Nike, Walmart and 2K Sports are among the brands that have worked with the basketball star during the course of his career, evolving, he says, from “sponsorships to partnerships.”
According to estimates by Forbes, James—one of the highest paid athletes—has the NBA’s top endorsement portfolio, worth $60 million. On top of that, he has his own production company, SpringHill Entertainment, and media company, Uninterrupted. He also co-owns 19 Blaze Pizza franchises in Chicago and South Florida and in 2018 teamed up with Cindy Crawford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lindsey Vonn to launch a health and wellness company called Ladder.
While social justice issues have been a bigger priority for brands over the past year, James says they’ve been part of his mission “from the beginning.” During All-Star Weekend, for example, he has a tradition of working with communities to refurbish gyms or basketball courts, while also helping to equip nonprofits with lab or computer equipment.
“I’m happy that a lot of these companies are understanding or are seeing that there’s so much needed in these small communities,” he says. “They don’t really get much help, they don’t really get much support, they don’t really get much love.”
The ad’s release comes just a few months before James is set to star in Space Jam 2, fulfilling a childhood dream.
“When I was growing up, I used to watch The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, I used to watch Family Matters, I used to watch the Martin Lawrence show, and I always wanted to be an actor,” he says. “Being able to do in commercials and being in a couple of movies and doing a couple of TV shows, it’s a pretty cool thing.”
James also recently added baseball team part owner to his list of accomplishments. In March, he joined Fenway Sports Group as partner, giving him an ownership stake in its subsidiaries including the Boston Red Sox.
“From myself and (business partner Maverick Carter), it’s very humbling. We’re the first Black men to be an ownership group for the Boston Red Sox, and for people who come from where we come from, it means a lot,” he says. “We want to continue to encourage and empower people that look like us and represent us.”