Photograph courtesy of Lowes
You wouldn’t think a 38-year-old man who is considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time—an athlete who made $135M last year alone—could get puffed up any bigger. But this past weekend, Atlantans discovered otherwise.
Visitors to Piedmont Park couldn’t have helped but notice a 20-foot inflatable Lionel Messi in a blue Lowe’s hardware store kit tethered to the ground.
The spectacle was part of the kickoff of “Epically More Messi,” a World Cup-centered ad campaign to drum up membership for the North Carolina-based hardware chain’s rewards programs. The towering air-filled Argentine was also casting its shadow on other U.S. World Cup host cities, Dallas, Miami, and New York.
Photograph courtesy of Lowes
On Monday, a limited number of slightly less massive 10-foot lighted outdoor inflatable Messi’s were made available to members of Lowe’s rewards program online, and on Wednesday, the inflatables will also go on sale in certain stores in the U.S. host cities, including Atlanta.
The soonest the real, much smaller (5-foot-7) Messi could possibly float into Atlanta with his Argentina teammates would be the knock-out round of 32 on July 1. But United fans already get their fill of La Pulga Atomica (Atomic Flea) when he blows through with their MLS Eastern Conference rival Inter Miami.
The only ego more inflated than a Messi fan in Atlanta might be the homeowner who blows up a 10-foot Lowe’s ad in their yard in the birthplace of Home Depot.
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Source: Atlanta Magazine
