SALISBURY — A new commercial for Novant Health’s Rowan Regional Medical Center features NBA legend Michael Jordan scrubbing in with surgeons and greeting a patient on an operating table.
The ad debuted online today.
Novant’s Presbyterian Healthcare is the official healthcare provider for Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats. Jordan grew up in North Carolina and played college basketball at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Two 30-second TV commercials, three print ads and two posters were shot in a whirlwind four-hour session last month, with Jordan flashing his sense of humor as a wanna-be surgeon.
“That’s OK, we’ve got this. We’re good. Thanks, Michael,” two surgeon-playing actors tell Jordan as they politely discourage him from following them into surgery.
The disclaimer in the commercial reads, “Michael Jordan is not a licensed surgeon. He’s just a big fan of our hospital.”
The commercial was shot at Presbyterian Medical Plaza Ballantyne in the surgery center.
Novant Health, a not-for-profit system of 13 hospitals in the Carolinas and Virginia, is also teaming up with Jordan to communicate a serious message to its employees. In posters featuring Jordan’s oversized hands, he joins Novant’s award-winning “Washing hands saves lives” effort.
The internal campaign has lowered hospital-acquired infection rates. Since the launch, campaign materials have been offered at no cost to other health systems across the country. So far, more than 3,000 hospitals and other organizations have downloaded the materials.
“His hands have built quite a reputation. So have ours,” proclaim posters featuring Jordan wearing Carolina-blue custom scrubs with his Jumpman logo.
Novant and Presbyterian Healthcare agreed to a 10-year sponsorship deal with Jordan and the Bobcats in March. In return, organizations like Rowan Regional get to use Jordan’s likeness in commercials.
Jordan has several national endorsement deals, but this is his first in Charlotte since becoming an NBA owner
View the commercial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIszFoHAW5M&feature=youtu.be .