On the morning of December 2, former New Orleans Saints quarterback and NFL legend Drew Brees was killed in a lightning strike during a commercial shoot in Venezuela for a sports gambling app.
Or so we thought.
Brees, who joined PointsBet Sportsbook, an online gambling company as a Brand Ambassador in July 2021, tweeted on November 29 that he would be flying to a “top-secret location” later in the week to shoot a new promotional video for the company.
Come the early hours of December 2, a shaky video began circulating of Brees getting ready on a dark & cloudy outdoor film set with lightning striking in the distance – only for a strike to blast him and the rest of the set into chaos and shouting before the video cuts.
The video quickly went viral and sent the internet into a frenzy, with many angrily questioning whether the former football star was dead or not – with no immediate response from PointsBet or Brees himself on social media.
About two hours after the video had circulated, PointsBet announced on Twitter: “We are aware of the media coverage regarding PointsBet brand ambassador Drew Brees. We are in communication with Brees’ team and will continue to monitor events throughout the coming hours. At this stage we will not be making any further comment.”
This didn’t help the situation at all, with many still wanting answers on Brees’s well being. It wasn’t until another 2 hours of uncertainty that PointsBet posted a video of Brees in the back of an ambulance, announcing that he was alive and well and that PointsBet would be releasing free “lightning bets” for the weekend – exposing the video as just a marketing stunt before he cartoonishly gets struck by lightning once more.
Since the video dropped, Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International released a highly publicized statement criticizing PointsBet and Brees, including saying “This is a deadly injury, and it is disappointing to see the continual ridicule of lightning and electrical injury survivors in comical light in which it is presented for commercial gain and profit”, and that the ad has set their hard work “back 20 years”.
PointsBet’s stock has also dropped nearly 20% since the video was released. To make up for their blunder, they “generously” offered members of LSESSI a free $500 “lightning bet” for every year they “claimed” to be “set back”.
Was this the best way to handle it? Was it worth it? Perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned here!