Even though it didn’t put up much defense as Blake Griffin posterized it during Saturday’s NBA slam dunk contest, the Kia Optima became much more desirable after Griffin used it as a prop.

CNBC reports an Edmunds survey found the product placement, which Griffin arranged in advance with his handlers and Kia, convinced 20 percent more car buyers to say they were likely to buy a Kia the day after the dunk. The group was more than twice as likely to consider buying an Optima.

The connection may sound dumb, but an Edmunds analyst says it was brilliant advertising by Kia:

“Whether product placement is successful or not all depends on the context. When I heard about and saw the Kia Optima placement, I knew it was brilliant. It was the smartest type of product placement. If it is blatant and intrusive and is painfully obviously it doesn’t work with the under 40 crowd. If it’s contextual and subtle, like this, it works.”

Here’s the dunk:

What product placement has worked on you?

More Car Buyers Consider Kia Thanks To Griffin Slam [CNBC]

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