Yesterday I asserted that you never see ads featuring Lebron James going to the park and dunking on a bunch of kids. But a reader points out that you do see ads like this with Kobe Bryant:
I guess what makes this ad work is that you never see the other team, so you don't have to feel bad for a bunch of little kids who showed up hoping to win a kiddie league championship and wound up getting destroyed by a 6'7 NBA All-Star ringer. Still, you're supposed to feel good for a bunch of other kids who win the championship by blatantly cheating.
So i guess the conclusion is that middle America is okay with the idea of professional athletes using their massive skill advantage to dominate regular people, or even children, who are trying to play a game.