Turkish Airlines - Epic Pool Dunk

Turkish Airlines - Epic Pool Dunk

S7Another airline tapping into popular online culture is Turkish Airlines. Following its Kobe and Messi viral hits, the airline is now taking to the European Basketball League to generate some buzz. The airline has been the main sponsor of the Euroleague for the past few years and has worked with Crispin Porter + Bogusky London to star Euroleague ballers Shawn James, Kyle Hines, Robin Benzing and Sergio Rodriguez hoop it up poolside and make a big splash in new Turkish Airlines spot that builds up to an amazing aqua-dunk.

The ad was inspired by the explosion of epic pool dunks on Vine and YouTube last summer, such as this diving-slidingbalcony-tossing classic.

In the making-of clip, executive producer Rob Steiner sums up the challenge:

It’s a one-shot ad—30 seconds. We’ve got two cranes, 12 players—four pros—all of whom have to be synchronized and choreographed perfectly. We’ve got one day to shoot this, but in reality we’ve got four hours, because the professionals are only here for that time.

After 22 takes, it all came together, with the guys making improbable passes across, around and into a fancy outdoor pool in Madrid. Ultimately, the shot gets made thanks to an epic assist from a guy hovering on some sort of jet-sneaks.

The epic pool dunk video has generated 3 million views on YouTube in just a month, while the behind the scenes video has been viewed 300,000+ times as well.