‘I’m the ambassador of fun’: Shaq returns to Miami to share his new brand of snacks
“Mira, Shaq!” yelled a woman at the Doral Walmart. She was running at full speed with a basketball under one arm and held her phone camera out with the other.
Former Miami Heat star Shaquille O’Neal attracts a crowd wherever he goes and the launch of his new Shaq-a-licious gummy snacks at the Walmart near the 87th Avenue exit off the Dolphin Expressway Monday afternoon was no different.
Nearly 100 fans, some wearing Heat jerseys, some sporting Reebok Shaq sneakers, excitedly took videos and photos of the NBA legend who helped the Heat win its first NBA title in 2006 as he handed out samples of his new snacks. The snacks are available in six varieties including wild berry, which O’Neal called his favorite flavor.
“Growing up in Germany, gummy bears were always some of my favorites,” O’Neal told the Herald. “Hershey’s approached me and it took months of coming up with the characters and flavors. We went to the Hershey factory in Pennsylvania and it’s something fun. I’m the ambassador of fun.”
Since retiring from basketball in 2011, where he reportedly earned about $292 million in NBA contracts, O’Neal has gone on to become a successful businessman. He’s been the pitchman for companies ranging from Google to The General, a car insurance company, and he owns several businesses ranging from Planet Fitness franchises to car washes.
Indiana entrepreneur Mark Meece was in Doral because of work at Miami International Airport and was pleasantly surprised to stop by Walmart and see the NBA legend handing out snacks to kids.
“It’s crazy,” Meece laughed. “I never thought I’d see him at Walmart. Hopefully he can get something off the top shelf for me because I’m vertically challenged.”
Doral resident Santiago Gil was at Walmart shopping for an SD card ahead of his freshman year at Miami Dade College. What he heard over the store’s public address system will stick with him forever.
“I heard ‘Shaq is here, come to the candy aisle,’” Gil, 19, said. “I went to the aisle and thought it was a pre-recording and saw everyone going crazy grabbing basketballs. I ran to the aisle and he ended up fist bumping me and gave me some of his snacks.”
O’Neal later went outside to where customers receive their online shopping orders and helped to hand them out. Uber driver Roberto Carlos was parked in the area when he received two packets of Shaq-a-licious snacks directly from O’Neal.
“I felt extremely good because I’m an NBA fan and a fan of Shaq,” Carlos, 28, said in Spanish. “I’m definitely going to eat these snacks.
