Shaquille O’Neal is always experimenting with new ideas and getting involved in a variety of endeavors. It is one of the reasons you cannot help but admire his personality and will to be as diversified as possible. Shaq is now offering you some help getting to where you need to go on the road by providing his voice for the popular driving directions GPS app, Waze.
Some of the example sound clips drivers and passengers can hear on the newest addition to the voice options in Waze were shared during Tuesday night’s NBA on TNT broadcast, which you can see and hear in the clip below.
Don't get caught #Shaqtin, @Shaq's voice is now available on @Waze to help get you ready for the 2016 Playoffs! https://t.co/GKGBJEhPG0
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 13, 2016
If that is just the start, then I cannot wait to get in my car, load up the Waze app, and have Shaq start telling me which way to go to find out what else he has to say. Given Shaq’s track record, there has to be some good ones left to discover.
Waze has been using special guest voiceovers before to help grow the popularity of the app. Other celebrities to provide directions have included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Morgan Freeman, Rob Gronkowski, and Anthony Daniels in his signature C-3PO dialect during the period leading up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
It is a great strategy for Waze to keep customers engaged with the app in a growing mobile market with other alternatives like options provided by giants like Google and Apple. The voices tend to be seasonal in availability, which is fine, because it keeps users waiting to find out the next voice to be added. So enjoy Shaq’s expert navigational skills while you can.
About Kevin McGuire
Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.