Photo: Instagram / _onward_and_upward_
Grieving can be done in a variety of ways, but in this particular case, depending on how you see this, it could be just a money-making scheme. One fan custom wrapped his 2015 Lamborghini Huracan to pay tribute to the late NBA star Kobe Bryant.
In January this year, Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and 7 other people were on board a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter flying into Los Angeles in conditions of heavy fog, and it crashed in the hills above Calabasas, California. All 9 people on board were killed.
Prior to the crash, fan Joe Carbonara was trying to sell his 2015 Lamborghini Huracan, but he professes to have been so gutted by the devastating news that he set out to pay whatever tribute he could to the NBA legend. So he took the car to X-Treme Graphics in Chicago and had it custom wrapped: TMZ says that it was a “generic” silver before, and it now bears the purple and gold colors of the Lakers team – plus some Kobe and Gianna art on the back, the Mamba logo, and the name of all victims.
The shop’s owner Steve Zielinski says for the same media outlet that he loved the idea of the job so much he did for free. It took him two full days to complete it. “I had to make sure it was good and not overdone,” Zielinski explains. “And, we didn't charge for it.”
Whether the job is overdone or not is, at the end of the day, a matter of perspective. We’ll say this, though: the newly-christened Kobe24Lambo is not one for subtlety. It stands out in the crowd and is bound to attract attention.
And that’s exactly what it’s been doing. Sightings of the Kobe24Lambo all across Chicago have been documented on social media, with Carbonara saying that interest in the car has spiked so much he’s been asked to attend official sports events and even to appear in music videos. Oh, he’s still planning to sell the car (for $170,000), but in the meantime, he will be cashing in on the frenzy around it.
If you think this is just a shameful way of monetizing on a tragic event and other fans’ genuine grief, you’re not alone.
Prior to the crash, fan Joe Carbonara was trying to sell his 2015 Lamborghini Huracan, but he professes to have been so gutted by the devastating news that he set out to pay whatever tribute he could to the NBA legend. So he took the car to X-Treme Graphics in Chicago and had it custom wrapped: TMZ says that it was a “generic” silver before, and it now bears the purple and gold colors of the Lakers team – plus some Kobe and Gianna art on the back, the Mamba logo, and the name of all victims.
The shop’s owner Steve Zielinski says for the same media outlet that he loved the idea of the job so much he did for free. It took him two full days to complete it. “I had to make sure it was good and not overdone,” Zielinski explains. “And, we didn't charge for it.”
Whether the job is overdone or not is, at the end of the day, a matter of perspective. We’ll say this, though: the newly-christened Kobe24Lambo is not one for subtlety. It stands out in the crowd and is bound to attract attention.
And that’s exactly what it’s been doing. Sightings of the Kobe24Lambo all across Chicago have been documented on social media, with Carbonara saying that interest in the car has spiked so much he’s been asked to attend official sports events and even to appear in music videos. Oh, he’s still planning to sell the car (for $170,000), but in the meantime, he will be cashing in on the frenzy around it.
If you think this is just a shameful way of monetizing on a tragic event and other fans’ genuine grief, you’re not alone.
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