Kenny Powers, the profane protagonist of HBO's Eastbound and Down, may have picked up a real-life endorsement deal for the HTC One.
The character, played by Danny McBride, lobbed a few tweets recently that seem to be designed to raise awareness for the new device:
Snitches! Someone at @htcusa or @att help me get a @htc ONE, por favor.— KFUCKINGP (@KFUCKINGP) April 23, 2013
A stripper sat on my iPhone and it's on its last leg - can someone at @htcusa or @att help me get a @htc ONE before I'm phoneless?— KFUCKINGP (@KFUCKINGP) April 23, 2013
However, HTC told Advertising Age that the brand isn't paying for an endorsement: "We noticed the Kenny Powers Twitter account was actively talking [about] the HTC One and helped them get their hands on a device. We don't have an endorsement or paid relationship. We merely helped get the device into the hands of a fan."
If it were a sponsored tweet, it would also probably need to indicate as much in the tweet, per the FTC's recently released list of recommendations for marketers using Twitter.
The following tweet supported the claim that the HTC One "endorsement" may have been in jest:
Just ate a delicious @subway® sandwich (Eat fresh.™) and thought how amazing it is that opinions can be so easily confused as endorsements.— KFUCKINGP (@KFUCKINGP) April 26, 2013
That said, HTC has so far pursued an unorthodox marketing strategy with its phone. The device launched with a Funny or Die sketch featuring James Van Der Beek in a Bachelorette parody in which a woman had to choose between competing phones.
Powers/McBride also promoted K-Swiss in 2010-2011 in a campaign that had him becoming the CEO (or "MFCEO) of the company.