If you’ve been watching Thanksgiving holiday TV at all, you’ve probably seen a new series of commercials featuring our man Shaq. He’s on board with a new Pepsi promotion for the company’s new “mini” cans of the popular soft drink.
Yup, right there along with the popular holiday football games, one of the biggest names in hoops history is showing off his size in relation to the smaller Pepsi cans. Honestly, it’s hilarious to see how really, really small that mini Pepsi looks in O’Neals hands.
In the new commercial, Shaq even plays along, wishing he was “a little bit smaller” as Skee-Lo’s 1995 song “I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller” plays in the background.
The commercial plays on that theme, showing how the big man has to deal with the reality of living in a world made for us normal-sized people. (Not sure what “normal sized” means these days, but you get the picture.)
Needless to say that at over seven feet tall, Shaq was very much built for basketball. There have been other players who stood taller, but 7’1″ definitely ranks right up there, and gets plenty of attention IRL – in real life.
While O’Neal’s physical size was one of his many strengths in playing days, it still sets him apart from crowds today. Still, in a recent interview with People Magazine, the “big man” was asked if ever there had been a time when he might have actually wanted to be not so “big.” Turns out there’s one experience where Shaq thought about being smaller…
When it comes to most aspects of daily life, there are ways Shaq can make allowances for his size. Clothes can be tailored especially for him, and plenty of other items come in extra-large sizes. The Pepsi commercial shows him sleeping in a regular-sized hotel bed. We’re guessing that’s an issue wherever he travels.
Some things are harder to make Shaq-sized. For O’Neal, the one time he imagines being smaller is when it comes to his love of exotic cars. He told People: “They’ve got these Lamborghinis and Ferraris… [and] I used to have to buy two, shrimp them up, spend a crazy amount of money and take the convertible part off to make myself fit.”
We’re not sure what “shrimp them up” means, but we can guess it’s all about having the cars rebuilt to accommodate his large frame. Check past posts here on the ShaqFu Radio blog for stories about some of his cars and oversized SUV’s.
As Shaq said, “But that’s the only time I’ve wished I was smaller, so I can get into some of these expensive sports cars. Other than that, I’ve never had that thought process.”
Keep an eye out for the new Pepsi commercials. They’re a lot of Shaq-sized fun.