Former Saints quarterback Drew Brees had the sports world buzzing this Friday morning because of his involvement in a promotional video for PointsBet.
A video leaked on Twitter that apparently showed Brees getting struck by lightning. The video turned out to be fake. It was part of PointsBet’s scheme to promote lightning bets.
Brees eventually confirmed that he’s in good health.
“The lightning must’ve thought I was wearing a Falcons jersey, that’s why it tried to get me I’m fine…Who Dat,” Brees wrote on Instagram.
Some people laughed about the way this promotional video was handled. Others, however, were furious with it.
“Candidate for the dumbest athlete of all time…and that’s saying something,” Darren Rovell tweeted. “Deal after deal…Advocare, Jewelry deals, on and on, Drew can’t help himself.”
“Either Drew Brees was fully struck by lightning or PointsBet’s running the worst marketing scheme of all-time,” one person said. “Lawsuit or court of public opinion — either way, PointsBet is about to get slaughtered.”
“The plan? We stage Drew Brees’ gruesome death on Twitter in a lightening storm to get a few app downloads,” another person wrote.
We’re certainly glad that Brees is OK. However, this was a really bizarre way of promoting a sportsbook.