Who the F is Brandt Andersen, you ask? He’s the owner of the Utah Flash, an NBA D-League team. After pitching a rematch between Michael Jordan and Bryon Russell for months, Andersen misled fans by hiring a Michael Jordan impersonator and releasing viral video of “Jordan” eating at a restaurant in Orem. Over 7,500 fans showed up to a Flash game expecting to see the rematch. When fans saw the impostor walk on court, they started booing and leaving the arena.
Here is Andersen’s non-apology apology (from his blog):
“This was done in fun. If you did not see it as fun or you feel we went over the top I am sorry…Since putting out the challenge to B Russ and MJ and the charity of their choice we have tried to put the pressure on MJ to join us…I knew I would not know if MJ was going to attend until a few hours before game time. I never received the call indicating he would not attend…In every interview I said if Jordan did not show we would have a backup that would be entertaining. I promised it would be worth attending…So as a backup, we hired a Michael Jordan lookalike…Like you I was let down. I wanted MJ to show up.”
Is this guy for real?
He starts off with the non-apology apology, basically saying that the whole thing was a joke and if fans don’t have a sense of humor about it, then he’s sorry. Next up is his spiel about how the promotion came about, but what I don’t get is the line about not knowing if Jordan would show until “a few hours before game time.” What? He’s basically promoting a Jordan/Russell rematch not knowing if Michael Freaking Jordan is going to make it until just before game time? Give me a break.
Then he puts the blame on Jordan for not showing up, when he was the one that created the whole situation in the first place. He talks about how easy it was to disprove the hoax, but in viral or word-of-mouth marketing, credibility is out the window, especially in such a small time frame. Why else would 7,500 or so fans show up actually expecting to see MJ?
To top it all off, he doesn’t even offer disgruntled fans a refund, just two tickets to a future Flash game, which is something that doesn’t really cost him anything. Sweet.
This cat is a piece of work. I’ll give it to him, though — he has giant balls.
Holy crap – your last line says it all.
Well, you figure that if this turd had the audacity to promote something that may never happen, that he would have the aduactiy to blame MJ and hand out a non-apology apology.
What a joke.
What this idiot did was fraud, nothing less. He defrauded every family who spent their (often miniscule) discretionary funds to take their kids to this game for the sole purpose of getting to see MJ.
This conman KNEW people would come out to see MJ, and he sold a ton of tickets because of it. Where did this guy get his money? Wall Street? Because this kind of “HaHa, screw ‘em if they can’t take a joke while I rake in their money” attitude is eerily reminiscent of that kind of “thinking”.
I seriously hope he is arrested, and charged with 30,000 counts of fraud.
As one of the principal sponsors of the Utah Flash, Professional Marketing International has prime box seats at the venue, as well as other tickets throughout the arena. PMI employees are regulars at the Utah Flash games, and many were in attendance at the game also hoping to see ‘Air Jordan’ defend his title as the King of Basketball. We were sad to see how the halftime show played out, but we still enjoy the games. We hope this attention doesn’t distract the Flash players too much.