Kareem Returns To Wisconsin (And The Friendly Skies) In New Ad

Wisconsin is looking to boost tourism this summer, so it's turned to one of its former sports stars for help. The NBA's all-time scoring leader — and former Milwaukee Buck -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar appears in a 30-second ad going back into character (sort of) as copilot Roger Murdock, a role he originally played in the 1980 movie comedy "Airplane!."

The new spot — titled "Airplane! Stars Shirley Love Wisconsin Summers" -- also stars Kareem's former flying buddy Robert Hays as Lt. Ted Striker and the inflatable Otto Pilot as himself. Otto's given some actual lines this time (he must have a good agent), and Kareem and Hays have some fun playing with some of their lines from the original film. It looks like a win/win for everybody involved, but I feel bad for the two kayakers whose vessels probably got incinerated when Striker came in a little too low above Lake Superior.

Here's the ad:

And here's one of Kareem's scenes from "Airplane!":