Illumination is testing a quirky new marketing plan to build hype for its summer tentpole pic Despicable Me 4 (pictured).

Serbian NBA superstar Nikola Jokić (a center for the Denver Nuggets) headed to his team’s April 21 game against the LA Lakers dressed in a black zip-up jacket and striped gray scarf—which many fans recognized as the signature attire of Gru, the protagonist of the Despicable Me franchise. 

This appearance prompted a flurry of viral social media posts on platforms like X/Twitter and TikTok, with users pointing out the amusing resemblance. The Denver Nuggets X account also posted an image of the star player with a caption referencing Gru, and it has generated more than 73,000 likes in the last two days. 

While the buzz was still fresh, Illumination quickly dropped a new 30-second spot for the sequel pic featuring a comedic gag that sees Jokić seeking advice from a therapist about an unexpected side effect of his new look—the Minions accidentally mistaking him for Gru. The clip has racked up close to 155,000 views and counting on Illumination’s YouTube channel (four million subscribers).

While it’s certainly a unique promo plan for a kids film, it’s not far-fetched for the Despicable Me franchise, which has previously tapped into the “meme subculture” for broader appeal. 

Second feature Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) benefited from a viral TikTok trend called #Gentleminions that encouraged teens and young adults to attend screenings of the film dressed in suits. US film survey service PostTrak reported that more than a third (34%) of the movie’s audience fell into the teen demo (ages 13 to 17), which is notably high for an animated kids movie.

Unlike the new Jokić campaign, the #Gentleminions trend originated from fans (a group of high-schoolers in Australia, to be specific) and spread across the globe. Eventually, it received acknowledgment from Universal Pictures and was showcased in a special 2D-animated clip from Illumination portraying Minions wearing suits.