Twins players helping to build new ballpark

The Minnesota Twins debuted the spot above during local coverage of the Super Bowl. It features many of the team's stars, like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan, delivering equipment to the franchise's new ballpark, which is under construction and set to open in 2010. Where will they play this season—some playground in St. Paul? The spot does get mileage out of the sluggers hauling the lumber, while the pitchers supply the gas and heat and have what it takes to paint the corners. That's a lot of italics, but ad shop Periscope worked hard to be clever, and I wouldn't want you to miss the jokes. What's with the '70s flute soundtrack, though? It makes the ad seem like an episode of The Streets of San Francisco. Maybe that's where the Twins will play this year! Now, at the new Yankee Stadium, you'll hear Hammond organ music, and techno when the younger players come to bat. Just like the baseball gods intended. Go Yanks in '09!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Baseball, Gianatasio, Minnesota Twins, Periscope, Sports
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Who'll win the game of endorsement deals?

Which of Super Sunday's players are likely to end up sought after by marketers for endorsement deals? Noting that much depends on how the game itself goes, a bulletin from Dave Brown Talent (which toils in the endorsement field) points to some plausible candidates, even while conceding no player on either sideline figures to reach Peyton Manning status as an endorser. Among players on the favored Steelers, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and safety Troy Polamalu are singled out (the latter has already done that Coke Zero spot for the game), with wide receiver Hines Ward and running back Willie Parker also mentioned as possibilities. Of the Cardinals, quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are obvious endorsement-deal candidates, with wide receiver Anquan Boldin and running back Edgerrin James also in the mix. The talent firm cautions, though, that a great performance on the field doesn't necessarily translate into success as an endorser—a point it illustrates by pointing to Dexter Jackson, who won the MVP award as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer in the 2003 Super Bowl but made little impact in the marketing realm.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Dolliver, NFL, Sports, Super Bowl
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Special Olympics are not really that special

TDA Advertising & Design takes a different approach than might be expected in its first work for the Special Olympics. See two more ads here. All three are designed to suggest the Special Olympics are really no different than any other serious sporting event. Thus, the tagline, "Support great athletes," stresses the universality of competition. The visuals compare slalom courses, ice rinks and finish lines, and the images are identical. Whether the Olympics in question are Special or otherwise, true competitors play to win. The Special Olympics Winter Games are set for Feb. 7-13 in Boise, Idaho.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, Olympics, Sports, TDA
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Obama fever reaches minor-league baseball

Getting elected president is nice, of course. But having a bobblehead doll of your likeness handed out at a ballpark? Now that's something!
  Granted, it's only a Class A minor-league park (though quite a nice one). But Barack Obama will no doubt be mightily pleased to hear that the Brooklyn Cyclones (of the storied New York-Penn League) will "inaugurate" their season this spring with an extravaganza that includes renaming themselves the Baracklyn Cyclones (for that one game), donning special red-white-and-blue jerseys, giving away Band-Aids as a gesture toward "universal health care" and handing out the aforementioned bobbleheads.
  This occasion will extend a grand tradition of presidential links to baseball, dating back at least to Abraham Lincoln. The story that Lincoln summoned Abner Doubleday to his deathbed and ordered him to invent baseball as a means of re-unifying the divided nation is dismissed as apocryphal—as is the similar tale that he told Doubleday, "Don't let baseball die." But other Lincoln-plus-baseball legends are given more credence, including one in which Abe speaks of getting "my turn at bat."

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Filed under Barack Obama, Dolliver, Sports
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Red Sox fans feel the beat in dead of winter

If you feel the conjunction of music and baseball should be confined to ballpark organists playing cheery standards, this isn't the event for you. But others will relish the opportunity to mingle at a Boston hot spot (if that's not a contradiction in terms) with the likes of Red Sox front-office wunderkind Theo Epstein and veteran baseball journalist Peter Gammons, as various bands wail away. The event is the ninth in a series of annual fundraising concerts under the catchy rubric Hot Stove Cool Music. Boston-area agency Allen & Gerritsen created the campaign for this year's edition.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Filed under Allen & Gerritsen, Dolliver, Music, Sports
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Burton's 'Playboy' snowboards: cool or not?

Burton is trying to heat up the ski slopes this winter with a new line of Playboy-branded snowboards, but the effort is getting a chilly reception in Vermont. As one (female) Vermonter told Boston.com: "When you really think about it, it's a young man standing on top of a naked woman's body. I probably could have gotten past it, because I try to have an open mind, but seeing it like that, it's offensive." My first thought, since I'm so darn progressive, was: It could also be a young woman standing atop a naked woman's body. (Well, it could be!) The city council in Burton's hometown of Burlington, Vt., might ask the company to withdraw the boards. And the Girl Scout Council of Vermont is considering taking its own concerns to lawmakers next month. (Perhaps they'll bring along some of those chocolate sandwich cookies—those can be convincing.) In any case, the story is generating some free press coverage for Vermont's ski areas, and I almost made it through this entire post without saying "snow bunnies."

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Burton, Controversy, Gianatasio, Playboy, Sports
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'Tis the season for those weird bowl names

With the college-football bowl season getting into full swing, we're entering the time of year when corporate sponsorship yields some of its oddest names. Some are odd in a merely clunky way—for instance, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Some are vaguely slapstick, like the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Others sound cheesy, like the AutoZone Liberty Bowl—or, in the case of the Papajohns.com Bowl, extra-cheesy. Then there are the puzzling ones, like the Insight Bowl, which will pit Kansas against Minnesota at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. (Rather pathetically, it shares a Web site with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl—which, of course, makes one think of a Fiestaware bowl into which a bag of Tostitos chips has been poured.) The Insight Bowl sounds as though it ought to be something like the old GE College Bowl quiz show, with students from different schools competing to see who can make the most apposite remarks on the issues of the day. Still, even the Insight Bowl's moniker (which comes from a technology vendor that modestly goes by the name of Insight) can't match the sheer weirdness of the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, which pairs "Humanitarian" with the name of a chain of truck stops. One pities the poor archaeologist who, some millennium in the future, unearths a football with this bowl game's name stamped on it and has to try to figure out what it could possibly mean.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Filed under Dolliver, Sponsorships, Sports
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Billy Mays wants to sell you some ESPN360

Arnold today launches a pleasingly goofy campaign for ESPN360.com starring Billy Mays, the bearded infomercial guy usually seen shilling for OxiClean. See all four ads here. This genre's been parodied to death, but the ESPN spots score by being even dumber than we've come to expect. They're almost parodies of parodies, so unrelentingly stupid that they're amazingly effective. Mays is no different here than in any of his other ad gigs as he shouts exuberantly about the ESPN360 service, which lets you to watch your favorite teams online, "anywhere, anytime!" The "secret," Mays confides, is the Internet connection. In the ad below, his wife and daughter are seen with thick black beards just like his. Nice! Their grins and gestures seem forced, and their line deliveries are as insincerely sincere as possible. Now that's great bad acting! Also noteworthy is the dead-eyed office drone who robotically explains that with ESPN360, "My job is way less soul-crushing." Hey, we need ESPN360 at AdFreak! Ow, my aching soul!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Arnold, ESPN, Gianatasio, Parody, Sports
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Does the Mets' Citi Field need a new name?

Giving vivid expression to the term "grandstanding," a couple members of New York's City Council have taken time out from grappling with the city's own financial struggles to propose a slap at the struggling Citi banking corporation. With Citi now among the recipients of a federal bailout, the lawmakers have proposed revising the name of the New York Mets' new stadium from Citi Field (for whose naming rights Citi is paying $400 million over the next 20 years) to Citi/Taxpayer Field. Just the sort of legislative vision we need in these dark days, eh?

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Filed under Citi, Dolliver, Finance, Sports
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Don't waste time insulting Peyton Manning

McCann Erickson and MRM cast Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning in this new TV and Web push for World MasterCard. Manning visits hotels in rival cities where the Colts play this season. In each, he trades on his "nice guy" persona, interpreting the hostility of staffers in positive ways. In Boston, a hotel operator warns Manning that he's "going down," and the QB replies that indeed he is—to the fourth floor for a massage. The Colts edged the Patriots 18-15 on Sunday, so that rubdown worked wonders. He should just snap "No tip!" to these bellicose bellhops. There's a microsite where consumers with nothing better to do can send friends and family a customized "video pep talk" from Manning. He covers his mouth when the recipient's name is dubbed into the message. Frankly, it's tough to make out what he's saying much of the time. This guy always sounds likes he's got a face full of doughnuts!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, MasterCard, McCann Erickson, NFL, Sports
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Rugby takes a shot at soccer's diving divas

An old saying goes that soccer (or rather, football) is a game watched by gentlemen and played by thugs, while rugby is a game watched by thugs and played by gentlemen. However, this humorous commercial promoting the Czech rugby league would like to clarify that soccer is played not by gentlemen or thugs ... but by a bunch of girls worried about how their hair looks. Spot by Mather Communications in Prague.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Europe, Nudd, Sports
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MasterCard also honors hockey's big losers

As I've noted, I dislike it when ads use tough-guy sports metaphors. MacLaren McCann's Bobby Orr spot for MasterCard was a rare exception, because I can identify with Orr. I know how he feels sitting alone in that locker room. Hey, they never even picked me for the team, pal. And this was singles tennis. As for his many scars, I too have felt pain: some wedgies never heal. Which brings me to another ad in the same series, "Pep Talk," which I also enjoyed. You know why? Because those beefy skate-heads are losers. They're trailing at halftime, or whatever they call it in hockey, and will likely go down to humiliating defeat. They'll get cut, lose their mansions, yachts and trophy wives. I'll still be here! I may be the nerdy assistant manager lugging their filthy gear to the laundry, but there's a twinkle in my eye and a spring in my step. Sure, I trip and end up nose-first in a pile of sweaty jockstraps, but it's worth it. I still have a job.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, MacLaren McCann, MasterCard, Sports
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MasterCard traces a hockey legend's scars

I usually hate commercials that use tough-guy sports metaphors. But this MasterCard spot by MacLaren McCann in Toronto "cuts" through the clutter in the most literal sense of the word because of its focus on the pain, sacrifice and humanity behind every true sports icon. A hockey legend's many surgical scars from his playing days trace a humbling "timeline" across his skin. At the end, the player simply sits in the locker room alone, a poignant image of a man who earned his accolades by paying the painful price many times and always skating back onto the ice for more. It's Bobby Orr, but he's never ID'd, implying that his hard-earned achievements outlive the fleeting fame. Besides, in Canada, they'll know who he is.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, MacLaren McCann, MasterCard, NHL, Sports
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A new NHL season, and the gloves are off

One city picking a fight with another city? You'd have to say that this nicely captures the spirit of pro hockey. The Detroit Red Wings won the National Hockey League championship, and the Stanley Cup that goes with it, last season, so the Dallas Stars get in Detroit's collective face with this ad, via agency Door Number 3 of Austin, Texas. Considering that what's now the Stars franchise relocated from Minneapolis in the early 1990s, one could scarcely blame Minnesotans if they upbraided Dallas with an ad saying, "You've got something of ours." True, Minnesota has since acquired a fresh NHL franchise. But the new team has such a cheesy name that some folks in the Twin Cities (for instance, those who frequent this memorial Web site) must yearn for the days when they had the North Stars instead.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Filed under Dolliver, Door Number 3, NHL, Sports
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Nike sets a collision course for its NFL stars

David Fincher directed this epic new Nike commercial, titled "Fate," in which NFL players LaDainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu are literally born to pummel each other in a football game. Polamalu, it seems, has had long hair since his days in the womb. Wieden, Nike and Fincher have teamed up before, of course, notably on the Nike Gridiron stuff from 2003.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under NFL, Nike, Nudd, Sports, Wieden + Kennedy
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Running-shoe ads are as painful as running

I hate running. My knees ache just thinking about it. A new campaign from athletic shoe maker Saucony, which purportedly targets "serious runners," reinforces every negative impression I have about the sport. Consider the images: A runner trains by pumping iron. Hurts just to look at. Why's she building her upper body? Is she planning to sprint on her hands? Then, in this ad, there's a line of unhappy-looking people at the Port-a-Potties. I don't want to get graphic, but I live on the Boston Marathon route and I can assure you, the runners aren't nearly so polite. Heaven forbid they add 50 seconds to their precious "time" by using the proper facilities. Good hygiene is always a personal best, jerks. And check out the guy riding the escalator in that ad. You'd think he'd cheat on the uphill stretches of the race. Downhill's the easy part!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, Saucony, Sports
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Get your trash talking on more solid footing

UXB's commercial for Cleatskins, a product that converts cleats to street shoes, scores in more ways than one. The lighting, design and direction perfectly evoke and skewer so many macho and tiresome jock-ad cliches. And the pompous faux-Nike soundtrack really seals the deal. When that muscle-bound bruiser goes crashing to the floor, I laugh like only a vindictive, oft-wedgied nerd who still holds a grudge from high school can. Think I'll hit replay right now. Uh-oh, watch out for your chin! ... Ha ha ha! This clip never gets old. Enjoy your trip to the orthodontist, Pigskin Pete. I just hope they fix your face in time for the yearbook photo. Not.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, Sports
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Bickering body parts come alive in Nike ad

Wieden + Kennedy goes inside the body of Nicola Sanders in this crazy new Nike commercial to reveal her muscles and organs in various states of Internal Pigdog-esque agony during a workout. The brain, outfitted with a monocle, tries to keep the screaming legs, a whiny multicolored heart, a pair of resentful lungs and a couple of bitter feet all working as one. One thing the body parts have in common: big lipsticked lips.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Nike, Nudd, Sports, Wieden + Kennedy
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NFLatino spots give great dramatic lighting

Man, people who speak Spanish get all the cool stuff. Not only do they have excitable sports commentators and accordion-heavy ranchero music, but according to this NFLatino spot from The Vidal Partnership, they get personal spotlights in which to deliver epic dialogue sequences. I want one of those! We can cut the overused classical battle-scene music, but I can't tell you how often a spotlight would come in handy for me. Maybe I should watch NFLatino. They might raffle one off or something. See another spot here. Via Ads of the World. 

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Kiefaber, Sports, Vidal Partnership
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Absolut, Red Sox getting ready for October

Just in time for Major League Baseball's postseason, Absolut is breaking an ad that shows a Red Sox fan moving into left field at Fenway Park. It's part of the vodka's "In an Absolut world" campaign, and for Yankees fans everywhere (and me personally), it's the sorry end to a sad season. Not only will my beloved Pinstripes almost certainly miss the playoffs for the first time since Robinson Cano was in grade school, but I never got a callback in my quest to portray Sox mascot Wally. (I can root for one team and get paid by another—what's so wrong with that? Pete Rose did it!) Even worse, before the season began, I maligned ad campaigns from the Blue Jays, Twins and Rangers and talked up the Yanks on AdFreak. Now I've got to eat crow—and I dislike crow, unless it's seasoned just right and served with fava beans. OK, fine... chomp, chomp! I'm eating crow now! ... Ughhh, this tastes awful!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Absolut, Gianatasio, Sports
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McCann tries to make baseball look exciting

It's no secret that baseball's a slow-moving sport. I'm a fan, and even I can't sit through an entire game. They tend to run three-hours-plus and contain about 15 seconds of excitement. So, it's appropriate that McCann Erickson crams about 15 seconds of action footage into each of its new spots promoting Major League Baseball's postseason. They toss in oddities like insects attacking players and black cats running around the field—that stuff's actually more lively than the game action itself! There's also a guy blogging, I guess, but even he seems more interested in the bugs on some pitcher's neck than the score. I'm skipping the postseason this year. And for those who'd accuse me of sour grapes as the playoff hopes of my beloved Yankees dim with each double play Derek Jeter bounces into, I offer the standard, time-tested reply: Wait until next year!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, McCann Erickson, MLB, Sports, Television, TV
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It's not a glitch. Tiger does walk on water.

Electronic Arts doesn't make mistakes. That's clear from this nifty bit of customer outreach. What happened was: A player of EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 found a glitch in the game that allows Woods to walk on water. The player, Levinator25, filmed and posted a video of the glitch to YouTube. EA responded with its own YouTube video showing Woods on an actual golf course, strolling out into the middle of a lake for a shot—to show "that the 'glitch' Levinator25 thought he found in the game, is not a glitch at all." It seems possible, though maybe not likely, that whole thing—the glitch, the discovery of the glitch, the response to the discovery of the glitch—was orchestrated by EA. Either way, it's an inspired and engaging bit of marketing. Covered by Fark, Deadspin, The Social Path and others.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Electronic Arts, Golf, Nudd, Sports, Tiger Woods, TV, Web video, Wieden + Kennedy
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Twins miss Santana already ... in their ads

With spring training in full swing (now that's wordplay), Major League Baseball teams have begun to grind out the commercials. The Minnesota Twins, who finished 79-83 last year and are preparing for their 17th consecutive year of not winning a World Series, trot out young pitcher Pat Neshek, who looks concerned (and rightly so) at the prospect of a season without ace Johan Santana, who recently defected to the New York Mets for big money. Even the kids in the ad (students at Neshek’s alma mater, Minneapolis’s Park Center High School) seem to know the score (wordplay again), as they ask silly questions about the team’s catcher, Joe Mauer. It’s about as funny the Twins sub-.500 season will be. Go Yanks!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Baseball, Minnesota Twins, Sports
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