Apparently, making an ass of yourself during the NBA Finals now comes with complimentary food.
Buffalo Wild Wings is offering the fan who interrupted Game 1 of the Spurs-Knicks series free wings and a place to watch the rest of the Finals. But the chain’s publicity ploy is leaving plenty of hoops fans with a bad taste in their mouths.
On Thursday, Atlanta-based Buffalo Wild Wings fired off a tweet celebrating the young interloper’s ill-advised dash onto the court during the fourth quarter to grab a selfie with Victor Wembanyama.
The NBA has handed the suspect, whom authorities haven’t publicly identified because he’s a juvenile, a lifetime ban from NBA games. An accomplice who allegedly helped him access the court has met with the same fate.
The duo also is facing criminal charges from the stunt, which the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department now believes may have been an effort to promote a cryptocurrency scheme.
Undeterred by the lifetime ban, Buffalo Wild Wings has offered the fan an alternate viewing arrangement.
“Internet, help us find the banned fan,” Buffalo Wild Wings tweeted. “He can watch the rest of the Finals at B-Dubs on us.”
Predictably, not everyone thought rewarding an alleged crypto-promotion stunt was a marketing masterstroke.
“Bad brand move,” former City of San Antonio assistant communications director Laura Mayes commented on the tweet. “This could’ve been dangerous for the players. Don’t reward this idiocracy.”
Plenty of other folks agreed.
“Yeah, let’s reward the loser interrupting Game 1 of the NBA Finals,” user @OneLegSoldMe fired back.
“Marketing guy is not going to have a good time when HR sees this tweet,” @DustyBottoms04 wrote.
Game 2 tips off Friday at Frost Bank Center, where fans are strongly encouraged to keep their asses planted in their seats. The contest also is airing on ABC and ESPN and is available for streaming on YouTube TV and Hulu.
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