K-Swiss Restarts 'Kenny Powers' on Twitter, Facebook

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K-Swiss is trotting Kenny Powers out to the social media mound again, hoping to get some more of the high heat the fictional baseball pitcher delivered earlier this year. The sneakers brand has purchased today's Promoted Trend on Twitter, which, according to multiple ClickZ sources, costs $80,000.

Using the hash-tag #KSwissandKPowers, the ad pushes K-Swiss's "Tubes" cross-trainer shoe line and uses a landing page promoting a YouTube video with actor Danny McBride playing his HBO "Eastbound & Down" comedic character and NFL football star Jeremy Shockey. The copy on the landing page includes variations, such as "KP and Shockey, version 2.0. Talk about some hops. [Video URL]" and "Witness Kenny Powers harness the power of K-SWISS Tubes & show @JeremyShockey who's boss. [Video URL]."

The :30 YouTube spot was added to K-Swiss's channel on the video site on Nov. 23, and has so far garnered just over 2,500 views. Overall, the Promoted Trend is K-Swiss's first ad purchase on Twitter.

In addition, display ads (300X250 and 728X90 pixels) are running on ESPN.com until Dec. 19, said Kerry Fitzmaurice, spokesperson for agency 72andSunny, which put together the campaign for K-Swiss. "We also have a Facebook media buy running from [today through Friday]," she explained. "This is a new flight of media for the Holiday period, running from late November to late December."

Those ads come on the heels of K-Swiss's new Kenny Powers Facebook app, which was announced last week. Also developed by 72andSunny, the "Workout Wingman" app offers users the option of letting the Powers character manage their Facebook wall while they are offline. Therefore, as friends post messages to the user's wall, the app will post an irreverent reply on their behalf. The automated post will include the recipient’s name to let friends know the Wingman app is behind the remarks.

Here's an example of the messaging: "apparently you didn't get the memo. [User name's] life isn't all about Facebook now that K-Swiss Tubes are in the picture. he is all about getting swoll. Becoming a true champion. Like me. And unlike you."

K-Swiss also teamed up with actor Danny McBride and 72andSunny for a "Kenny Powers" campaign in August. During its run, ClickZ discovered that the Kenny Powers character had been hijacked on Twitter. That account, #KFUCKINGP, has grown to 190,000 followers.