13 things you probably didn't know about the iconic 'Lil Penny' commercials
For a short but thrilling time in the mid- '90s, it looked like Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway might be the real "heir" Jordan for both Nike and the NBA.
In May 1995, Michael Jordan had only recently returned from retirement when the Orlando Magic, then just a six-year-old franchise, found its stride with Shaquille O'Neal and a 24-year-old Hardaway leading the way.
A quick and unusually tall point guard at 6-foot-7 with solid ball-handling skills, a killer midrange game and the ability to post up, Hardaway was something special as he earned the first of his back-to-back All-NBA First Team nods in 1995. The Magic beat the Chicago Bulls in six games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals before knocking out the Pacers in the Conference Finals, then getting swept by the Houston Rockets in the Finals. But a star was on the rise, and it was time for Hardaway to get his own shoe: the Nike Air Penny I.
That's when Lil Penny was born -- the trash-talking, outspoken, Tyra Banks-jonesing puppet voiced by not-yet-superstar Chris Rock.
Anfernee Hardaway #1 of the Orlando Magic looks to make a move against Michael Jordan #23 of the Chicago Bulls during Game Four of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
"They came to me to talk about my sneakers and where we wanted to head next, and someone talked about an alter ego," Hardaway told the New York Times in 2012. "When I heard it, I laughed because I'm laid-back and reserved, and this alter ego of course was going to be the bad guy. Most of us have a little bad guy in us."
Injuries eventually struck Hardaway and stunted what looked certain to be a Hall of Fame career, but Lil Penny has endured thanks to a brilliant and funny campaign that transcended basketball ("the Secret Service couldn't guard me!"). Let's take a look back at some aspects of Lil Penny you may have missed, or never knew at all.
1. Chris Rock wasn't the top choice to voice Lil Penny
2. "I even cut open an Air Jordan just to see what was inside!"
One time Lil Penny was used not in a commercial but for an intro teaser for the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and Magic (a Bulls sweep):
3. Rock ad-libbed many of the lines that were used in the commercials
During an episode of the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons, Rock discussed how the campaign's director, Stacy Wall, who then worked for the ad agency Wieden+Kennedy in Oregon, allowed him to balance the script with whatever ridiculous ideas popped into his head:
4. The guy who co-hosts "MythBusters" was behind the actual Lil Penny puppet used in the campaign
Chris Rock in 1995.
That would be Jamie Hyneman (the one who wears the beret), the CEO and Founder of the San Francisco-based company M5 Industries (M5i) -- a special effects company that served as the working lab for the TV series "MythBusters."
The agency Wieden+Kennedy collaborated with Hyneman and M5i, which at the time was a warehouse filled with props and puppets. M5 stands for: Models, Machines, Miniatures, Manufacturing and -- wait for it -- "a little bit of Magic."
5. Reebok and Shaq showed a little bit of Penny-envy by using a Lil Penny's likeness in Shaq's own commercial
6. Chris Rock's very first appearance on Oprah opened with Lil Penny
Rock has made 26 appearances on “Oprah” but the first time, in February 1997, Oprah interviewed Lil Penny before Rock got his introduction.
The "Mythbusters" San Francisco workshop in February 2008.
7. Lil Penny appeared in Blackstreet’s 1996 music video “No Diggity” featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen
Check it out at 0:42 second mark:
8. In the very first spot that aired in November 1995, Lil Penny references 19-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Kevin Garnett
Who is still in the league! That’s obviously knowable if you remember the commercial, but it’s just ridiculous. Bring back Lil Penny to crack jokes about KG. Here’s that debut locker room spot:
9. Tyra Banks took a long time to get ready for the epic slow motion “frozen moment” commercial
We shouldn’t have waited this long to get to Tyra. Sorry. Like Rock and Hardaway, Tyra Banks’ stature reached a new level thanks to the campaign. Anyhow, the mention on her preparation for this commercial is only surprising because she’s a natural beauty.
10. A baby-faced Tiger Woods appeared in the star-studded “Lil Penny” Super Bowl commercial
''Penny Hardaway's Nike Super Bowl spot is supposed to be the biggest ad during the Super Bowl,'' marketing analyst Joyce Julius told the Orlando Sentinel in 1997. ''This one could put Penny over the top as an advertising superstar.”
11. The Air Penny I represented a new kind of Nike shoe
Nike’s official blog explains the shoe’s conception with some words from the designer:
Lil Penny himself (itself?) also made this reappearance in 2014:
13. Penny still hears about his alter-ego all the time
Indeed. Here’s one more for good measure:
Hardaway at the 2nd Annual Chris Tucker Foundation celebrity golf tournament awards dinner in August 2015.
