"What Are Cartoons?" - Kerby Joseph and Kellan Break The Internet
The 7th Annual Awards
- Best Short-Form Video
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
Detroit Lions All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph breaks the internet when he reveals that Kellan, an unexpected comedic prodigy and son of Safeties Coach Jim O'Neil, doesn't know what cartoons are.
How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?
Kerby Joseph and Kellan's "What Are Cartoons?" segment is likely the most viewed single piece of media to be produced in 2025. The featured captured a perfect cross-section of nostalgia, humorous packaging and delivery, disbelief, and debate resulting into an explosion of engagement and user generated interactions. Passive branding for United Dairy Industry of Michigan, Detroit Lions, and the NFL is present in all reposts, remixed edits, reuploads, and reactions, driving our brand onto the screens and into the homes of millions upon millions of new audience members who would never have had the exposure to our brand if not for this once in a lifetime interaction we were able to capitalize on with our team's exceptional approach to capture and delivery.
Objective
With the Detroit Lions episodic Milk & Cookies series, we set out to create an environment for kids to be in the driver's seat of an interview with the professional athletes they look up to all while showcasing their individual personalities and humor with passive branding offering value to the United Dairy Industry of Michigan, our partner for the series. Kerby Joseph shines by meeting kids within their imaginations and treating them as peers on common ground; his childlike view of the world allows our young hosts to open up and play within the framework of our interview segment, unintimidated by the lights and three-camera setup utilized to capture the improvisation. Post-production took on a similarly playful approach allowing the content itself to dictate unique edits in response to discussed topics and reactions provided by kids and athletes alike.
Strategy & Execution
When our partner asked about the possibility of creating a child/player discussion series, our first thought was how can we make the series unique for us and our fans. We knew including high-end athletes would only increase the likelihood that the kids might be star-struck, so we set out to create a format that would allow our team to hide any awkward moments and also let the personalities take center stage. Our team landed on a three-camera capture and custom meme-ing format that allowed us to trim our conversations to a snappier, comedic pace, and our modern, humorous post-production edits allowed us to heighten the hilarity of specific interactions and give each episode a fabricated and individual identity. Rather than strictly using known memes as a reaction to funny moments, we were able to create original memes from our own content and the responses from both the kid and player hosts. This approach led to content that felt fresh and easily sharable between episodes when the original concept could have easily seemed recycled.
Organizations
Detroit Lions - One Pride Productions
Links
Featured
Kerby Joseph & Amik Robertson
Credits
Neil Larson
Production Manager
Detroit Lions
Cole Knubley
Producer
Detroit Lions
Barrett Jones
Producer
Detroit Lions
Ellie Cross
Football Communications Specialist
Detroit Lions
Rachael Sledzinski
Partnership Marketing Manager
Detroit Lions
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