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Earlier this month, LeBron James took to social media to tease an upcoming interview that he promised would reveal “the choice of all choices.” With a nod to the enduring — and notorious — 2010 TV particular through which the NBA legend introduced his intention to “take [his] abilities to South Seashore” and signal with the Miami Warmth, the web went into spin mode. Would James lastly be asserting the top of his illustrious profession?
Not so quick, ball-knowers. On Oct. 7, James revealed that this fall, he’d be taking his abilities… to Hennessy V.S.O.P., persevering with a partnership with the cognac home that kicked off final 12 months with a social-first expertise that tapped into LeBron lore. This time round, Hennessy and company Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam had one shot at telling the story of the model’s subsequent steps with James.
“We used what we knew in regards to the timing of this, understanding it was within the offseason, a time when lots of people are going to be speaking about commerce rumors, about retirement, about a complete vary of issues, and we targeted that as our basis,” mentioned Amar Babbar, communications planning director on the company. “If we’re speaking about LeBron, there’s one essential and really important story … which is the choice in 2010.”
The Choice has been made. Cheers to 12 months 23.@KingJames #HennessyxLeBron #TheSecondDecision #HennessyVSOP pic.twitter.com/WnXMZTiEPS
— Hennessy (@Hennessy) October 7, 2025
The result’s a 60-second social video that recreates the appear and feel of the unique “Choice,” with a “SportsCenter”-like presentation. James wears a shirt with an identical sample to the one he donned all these years in the past and spouts the identical “man, that is robust” asides. Explaining his determination, James says — over a montage of photographs together with a document participant, card tips and chess strikes — Hennessey will assist him win at internet hosting, crafting cocktails, having a very good time and impressing company.
“Lots of thought and craft went into wanting on the authentic and drawing the appropriate parallels and maintaining it genuine, but additionally infusing model cues in a tasteful manner,” mentioned Zeynep Orbay, a inventive director at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. “There was a high-quality line, however… how delicate or how expressive it’s, is in a very good steadiness.”
Can’t make an omelette…
James’ partnership with Hennessy comes at a time when alcohol manufacturers have greater than 300 superstar endorsements (based on Wieden + Kennedy’s rely), spanning all the things from Hollywood celebrity owner-operators to hold-a-bottle photograph shoots. With that in thoughts, the company works to chop by way of the noise by breaking into wider conversations round sports activities.
For final 12 months’s launch, that meant nodding to cultural information round James that serves as “gold mud” on social, Babbar mentioned. The trouble featured trivia tidbits, like that James solely reads the primary web page of a ebook or the truth that he can’t spin a ball on his finger, which got here out over the past Olympics.
“Hennessy actually needed to be sure that this time round, the world knew that the connection was persevering with, that it was a deepening relationship, and eager to have an effect that matched final 12 months or beat it,” Babbar mentioned. “How will we be sure that now we have the web, the model followers and sports activities followers speaking about it, [so] finally we draw extra folks into the model?”
Wieden + Kennedy has labored with Hennessy for the final couple of years to make the 260-year-old model really feel extra younger, recent and related by way of a revamped tone and communication model. That has led the model towards a social-first technique and away from conventional promoting.
Within the case of “The Second Choice,” the company tried to recreate the sensation of appointment-viewing related conventional linear TV however on social media, hoping that the teasers on Instagram and the platform previously referred to as Twitter would pique the curiosity of LeBron’s followers — and haters.
“We have been treating it like a cultural second, like the unique ‘Choice,’ so having a really clear one-two punch [and] ensuring that each one these people who spoke in regards to the teaser had one thing to react to nearly instantly [was key],” Babbar mentioned.
…with out breaking some eggs
“The Second Choice” was crafted with social media virality in thoughts. In that manner, the hassle succeeded — even when among the suggestions round LeBron was damaging (A Washington Put up op-ed maintained, “LeBron James is promoting his credibility, one Choice at a time.”). However each company and model knew “you’ll be able to’t make an omelet with out breaking some eggs,” Babbar mentioned.
“Whether or not we’re speaking about LeBron James or about Hennessy, nice issues are sometimes an acquired style, and it’s okay to be divisive. It’s okay to fire up opinion. It is okay to fire up each actually optimistic sentiment and possibly some individuals who aren’t so pleased. Nevertheless it’s about being there for who your viewers truly is,” Babbar mentioned.
“The Second Choice” actually stirred up opinion and engagement. Video content material, particularly storytelling led by LeBron, has sustained distinctive attain and interplay within the week because the teaser dropped, with Hennessy Reels seeing a greater than three-fold improve to 24.57% engagement, per Metricool evaluation shared with Advertising Dive. As well as, the push throughout each James’ and Hennessy’s social posts generated almost $18 million in complete estimated media worth, with a median engagement charge over 12% (far surpassing business benchmarks of lower than half a %), per Sprout Social knowledge shared with Advertising Dive.
“Hennessy didn’t simply rent a star spokesperson with their newest ‘The Second Choice’ marketing campaign that includes LeBron James,” mentioned Sprout Social’s Director of Communications Kaitlyn Gronek in emailed feedback. “They cleverly recontextualized a nostalgic, viral second to create a brand new, immediately shareable dialog that’s clearly resonating with audiences and lengthening the marketing campaign’s attain with partaking social content material.”
