On a sound stage in Tempe, Arizona in December 1993, legendary American award-winning professional NBA basketball players Larry Bird and Michael Jordan waited to be recorded in astronaut costumes for a McDonald’s television commercial.

On a sound stage in Tempe, Arizona in December 1993, legendary American award-winning professional NBA basketball players Larry Bird and Michael Jordan waited to be recorded in astronaut costumes for a McDonald’s television commercial.

Occasionally, the commercial breaks during a major game offer greater entertainment value than what transpires during play-by-play. Yahoo Sports’ series Iconic Sports Commercials features some of the most memorable ads, along with behind-the-scenes stories from the set and how they came to be so influential.

How it originated
When creating the iconic Michael Jordan-Larry Bird commercial, the creative team had virtually limitless creative license.

Paul Schrage, the Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s, simply requested a two-part Super Bowl commercial featuring Jordan as a star pitchman and promoting the Big Mac.

Before the concept for a shooting challenge dawned on copywriter Jim Ferguson and art director Bob Shallcross, who were then the top creative team at Leo Burnett Worldwide, bounced ideas off one other for days. With a Big Mac and fries on the line, Bird challenges Jordan to equal him shot for shot in the award-winning commercial.

It was a really basic concept, but in advertising, the most effective concepts are typically the most straightforward ones, according to Ferguson. “Were we aware that it would eventually become a staple of popular culture? No way, dude. You never know what will become popular, but occasionally it does when you strike the right combination of circumstances, ideas, and stars.

“No dunking” is an iconic line.
In fact, one of the commercial’s most famous lines is an improvisation that director Joe Pytka wrote into the script while filming. To keep the competition fair, the 36-year-old Bird tells Jordan, “No dunking.”

Pytka’s inspiration for that line stems from a game of H-O-R-S-E between him and Jordan during some downtime while shooting a previous commercial. Jordan shot strictly left-handed to give his counterpart a shred of hope of winning.

Relying on a baby hook shot that Jordan struggled to duplicate shooting with his off hand, Pytka managed to extend the game until it was H-O-R-S to H-O-R-S and they were both down to their final letter. That’s when Jordan unleashed a flat-footed dunk that Pytka had no hope of matching.

“That’s not fair!” Pytka told him

Responded the notoriously competitive Jordan, “There’s no way I was going to let you beat me.”

When he first saw the screenplay for the McDonald’s commercial, Pytka’s loss suddenly occurred to him. In an attempt to mock Jordan and add some realism to the shooting competition, he had Bird rule out dunking, given that the Celtics star was still limited by chronic back problems that ultimately caused him to retire from the NBA in 1992.

Pytka stated, “That’s where that ‘no dunking’ line came from.” “It’s why I gave Larry that line.”

What is the matter with MJ’s attire?
Pytka says there is only one thing he would do differently if he could reshoot the commercial today.

He would locate Jordan an alternative outfit.