A YouTube video, reshared by VHS Dumpster Drive after many years now, is going viral on the Internet. This video is an ad for Dunlop tennis racquets and the biggest player in their roster back then, was John McEnroe. The ad originally aired in 1994.
The ad was also a way for Dunlop to celebrate its association with McEnroe for their long-standing association. In this ad, it starts with the narrator sharing a fact about McEnroe.
He said, “John McEnroe won 115 titles with Dunlop racquets. How will our new revelation affect his performance.”
At the start of the video, one could also see that it was the ‘Five Nations Cup’, which was the set-up for the ad. McEnroe was fabulous in the ad, saying “Bless you” to one audience member and even properly serving in it. His rockstar-like attitude and acting in it was also laudable. Such was his impact in this ad that it continues to garner views and likes years after it first aired.
This 1994 advertisement wasn’t the first one McEnroe did for them. In 1981, he did an ad for Dunlop that was published in the ‘El Grafico’ magazine. It was with the Dunlop Maxply Fort racquet. He mostly used the Mxply Fort but also had a Maxply McEnroe customized racquet.
Dunlop HM 200G is also one of his racquets from the now Japanese-owned brand. A lot of his racquets, such as the Dunlop McEnroe, Dunlop Maxply McEnroe, Vintage Dunlop John McEnroe, Dunlop McEnroe Boron Comp, etc, are all available on eBay today.
Not only John McEnroe but Dunlop has had close ties with many tennis players over the years
“For more than 130 years, this love of the game is what’s driven us,” goes a line in the Dunlop official website.
Tennis is an old sport and Dunlop is said to have been associated with the game for nearly 100 years now. In 1956, Lew Hoad won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon using the Dunlop Maxply racquet. Rod Laver’s ‘Golden Slam’ in 1962 was achieved using Dunlop Maxply racquets, and so was his 2nd Golden Slam in 1969.
1981 was when John McEnroe came on board. Steffi Graf, Thomas Johansson, and Amelie Mauresmo are some of the other tennis players who actively used Dunlop racquets throughout their careers.