11/16/2009
COM 161
Michael Jordan:
The Man and The Media Icon
Michael Jordan is the greatest professional athlete to every play professional sports in my opinion and I bet in many others too. Jordan has been called the greatest basketball player of all time and I really believe that on and off the court. He was the top sports figure in the 90s and became one of the most recognized faces in the world. He changed the way pro athletes are view in the media and corporate world. He was one of the first professional athletes to use the media to market himself and become a global icon. Jordan was everywhere in the 90s and is still around to day. There wasn’t a TV or magazine that did have Jordan on it at some point selling a product.
Michael knew that by putting his face and likeness out there in the world that he could make a lot of money for himself. He did many highly successful commercials and other endorsement deals for his products and for other products in the 90s and still some today that put him on top in the eyes of the media. His most famous commercials were for his sneakers “Air Jordans” and also had a catching song and a media catch phrase “ I want to be like Mike”. Jordan was also on many magazines covers and also did movies like “Space Jam”. Michael Jordan not only changed professional sports but the culture of not only the US but also the world.
Now I will tell you a little about the life of the man they call “Air Jordan”. Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York, the fourth of five children born to James and Deloris Michael Jordan. Him and his family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina when he was still a toddler. Jordan is the fourth of five children, having two older brothers and an older and younger sister. His father was a mechanic at the General Electric plant and his mother worked with a bank. His life was not a rags-to-riches story Mike’s childhood was pretty comfortable.
Jordan went to Wilmington’s Laney
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