"What Are Cartoons?" - Kerby Joseph and Kellan Break The Internet
Hashie Winner
- 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 capture a perfect cross-section of nostalgia, humorous packaging and delivery, disbelief, and debate, resulting in 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 in 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, uninhibited by the lights and three-camera setup used to capture the improvisation.
Post-production took a similarly playful approach, allowing the content itself to dictate unique edits in response to the topics discussed and reactions from kids and athletes alike.
Strategy & Execution
When our partner asked about creating a child/player discussion series, our first thought was how to make it unique to us and our fans. We knew that including high-end athletes would only increase the likelihood that the kids would be star-struck, so we set out to create a format that would let our team hide any awkward moments and let the personalities take center stage.
Our team landed on a three-camera setup and a custom meme-ing format that let us trim our conversations to a snappier, comedic pace, and our modern, humorous post-production edits heightened the hilarity of specific interactions and gave each episode a fabricated, individual identity. Rather than strictly using known memes in response to funny moments, we were able to create original memes from our own content and from the responses of both the kid and player hosts.
This approach led to content that felt fresh and easily shareable between episodes, even though the original concept could have seemed recycled.
Nominations
- Best Short-Form Video
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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