Tom Stieghorst
On the surface, they couldn't be more different.
He's a seven-footer who weighs 326 pounds and became an All-Star. She's 5' 5'', is less than half his weight, and married an All-Star.
He's black; she's white. He's 45; she's 64.
Yet they're both brand ambassadors for Carnival Cruise Line.
He is Shaquille O'Neal, the former NBA center who was just named CFO (Chief Fun Officer) for Carnival's newly minted "Choose Fun" campaign, which hit the social media and streaming video channels on Jan. 8.
She is Kathie Lee Gifford, the Emmy-winning television host who married the New York Giants football star Frank Gifford and was featured prominently in Carnival TV advertising from the 1980s and 1990s.
There are a few similarities, too. Kathie Lee went on from Carnival to her TV career as a daytime talk show co-host with Regis Philbin for 15 years. Since he retired from basketball in 2011, Shaq has worked as a commentator for TNT Network.
She also signed on, after the birth of her son, as a commercial spokeswoman for Slim-Fast diet drinks. He pitched Buicks, among other products.
But what they really have in common is that they embody the kind of people Carnival wants to sail on its ships - outgoing, social, happy, maybe a tad goofy around the edges. They show that fun comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. It isn't the package, so much as what's in the package that counts.
I'm looking forward to seeing Shaq's smiling face sloshing around the Havana pool or trying to swipe a burger at Guy Fieri's Burger Bar, just as I still enjoy Kathie Lee crooning "If They Could See Me Now," on those 1980s ads for "the most popular cruise line in the world."
It remains to be seen whether Shaq will become as identified with Carnival now as Kathie Lee was then. Kathie Lee had longevity, while Shaq could be one-and-done with this year's campaign.
But as my 19-year-old daughter (not a basketball fan) said: "Who doesn't love Shaq?" It's an inspired choice that fits the contemporary Funship brand as snugly as Kathie Lee did back in the day.