Players show a lighter side
Franchise produces videos via several social media forums to promote fan voting for all-star game
A video dropped Sunday on social media of Marietta, a kindly old woman, interviewing her favorite Connecticut Sun player, forward Alyssa Thomas.
The two don't say much. They instead spend their time together sitting quietly and smiling.
It's odd. It's funny. And it's all part of the Sun's viral marketing to get fans to vote their players to this summer's WNBA All-Star Game.
“Both of them aren't talking, yet they're in an interview setting where the point is to talk,” said Ben Piascik, creative coordinator for the Connecticut Sun and New England Black Wolves. “It's not awkward silence, but them enjoying their time together.”
It'll be no laughing matter for the Sun on tonight at 7 as they return from a three-game road trip welcome the world champion Los Angeles Sparks at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Connecticut began its foray into humor this month with grandmothers Loretta (point guard Jasmine Thomas), Marietta (Alyssa Thomas), Minnie Pearl (off-guard Courtney Williams) and Orthea (center Jonquel Jones) talking about their favorite Sun players (themselves) and other things. They wore bathrobes, glasses and slippers. Williams even added white stripes to her hair.
“Mostly everybody has said, ‘Oh, my goodness, that is so much fun,' or, ‘that's so adorable',” Jones said. “They've really enjoyed it, and we've been having so much fun doing it.”
Jasmine Thomas said, “I think they've turned out really well and really funny.”
The short films were the concept of two of the franchise's most recent
acquisitions, Claire Czerniuk, game operations manager and game director for the Sun and Blackwolves, and Piascik. Both were hired in April.
The duo had seen a video of rapper/ actor Ludacris performing a freestyle rap of Anna Dewdney's children's book, “Llama Llama Red Pajama,” during his April visit to Power 106, a Los Angeles radio station. Ludacris rapped the book's text over a beat.
“We thought it was hilarious,” Czerniuk said. “J.J. (Jones) is a rapper and very talented. We had an idea for her to read a bedtime story to a beat that we kind of collaborated on and dressed her up as a grandma in a robe.”
Jones rapped “Goodnight Moon,” Margaret Wise Brown's children's classic, to a beat. The video was shot in front of a green screen with the book's cover art behind Jones in the background. It was shown during an early-season Sun home game.
“I don't take myself too seriously,” Jones said. “I don't think anyone on our team does.”
Asked to describe Orthea, Jones said, “I can only speak for myself. I can't speak for her. You'd have to ask her.”
Connecticut's marketing staff had been trying to think of a unique way to outdo its peers when it came to promoting players for the All-Star Game.
They quickly realized they were onto something thanks to the gregarious Jones, and found more willing participants in Williams and the Thomases.
Their videos can be found on Twitter and at the Sun's Facebook page. They've caught the eye of espnw.com, ESPN's website geared towards women.
In one video, Orthea complains she's cold and Loretta passes a blanket across the room to her. Minnie Pearl tries her hand at Williams' dance move during their one-on-one interview. Marietta usually says little. Loretta's questions for Jasmine Thomas result in hilarious facial reactions by the latter.
“A lot of what we did and what we're using was unscripted and totally them (the players) getting into character and getting into it,” Czerniuk said. “That's what made it so much fun, their personalities."
Jasmine Thomas said, “Honestly, I just think I'm a little bit of an old soul. A lot of how I act is how I'm going to be when I get older. I already walk around the house with a house robe.” n.griffen@theday.com