Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Giant Slap In The Face
Just another ridiculous thing about advertising: Sign on to shill a product, and you could find yourself sleeping with the enemy. Baseball bloggers already do it by selling ad space to the ticket agencies--the very sites that make ticket-buying an impossibility for many real fans. But that's voluntary. Here's another one I thought of where the people signed on to do the ads, only to be stuck promoting the enemy. As we get closer to baseball season, I'm starting to hear the ads for the ol' standby, Giant Glass. Many on-air personalities do spots for them. Listen to WEEI and you'll hear different hosts narrating the ads. Listen to the Red Sox games and you'll hear the Red Sox announcers doing them. Now, you know many of these people are Patriots fans. Yet here they are saying "New England is Giant country" in the weeks following the Patriots' loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl.
Obviously, if the company just happened to be called "Giant," it wouldn't matter. But Giant Glass is named after the New York football Giants. Dennis Drinkwater, aka Redford, aka Springer, owner of the company and Fenway front-row season ticket holder:
I've followed [the Giants] since I was 12 ... The Patriots weren't born then.
And you still might say it doesn't matter, but think about it, if you were asked to promote a company called Yankee Yardwork, which was owned by a Yankee fan who named his business after them, would you? At the very least, if you absolutely needed the cash and felt you must do an ad, wouldn't you at least go to Red Sox Raking Co. and see if they're looking for someone?
Of course, if you're a Boston sports personality and you aren't a Pats fan, and you do the ad, fine. It's just funny to think of these hosts, commiserating with fans, then having to take a break so we can all listen to that same host promote the other side, because loyalty is important, sure, but money will always be the most important thing. I'll grant you that it's not the same as them doing an ad for New York Giants souvenirs, but it's in the same realm. Actually, with all the ads they do for ticket agencies, they're making money for rival teams directly anyway....
Of course, I have no problem with Drinky the Kid following his multiple-city sports teams, as I grew up doing the same thing. What a great 2007 he had....
Obviously, if the company just happened to be called "Giant," it wouldn't matter. But Giant Glass is named after the New York football Giants. Dennis Drinkwater, aka Redford, aka Springer, owner of the company and Fenway front-row season ticket holder:
I've followed [the Giants] since I was 12 ... The Patriots weren't born then.
And you still might say it doesn't matter, but think about it, if you were asked to promote a company called Yankee Yardwork, which was owned by a Yankee fan who named his business after them, would you? At the very least, if you absolutely needed the cash and felt you must do an ad, wouldn't you at least go to Red Sox Raking Co. and see if they're looking for someone?
Of course, if you're a Boston sports personality and you aren't a Pats fan, and you do the ad, fine. It's just funny to think of these hosts, commiserating with fans, then having to take a break so we can all listen to that same host promote the other side, because loyalty is important, sure, but money will always be the most important thing. I'll grant you that it's not the same as them doing an ad for New York Giants souvenirs, but it's in the same realm. Actually, with all the ads they do for ticket agencies, they're making money for rival teams directly anyway....
Of course, I have no problem with Drinky the Kid following his multiple-city sports teams, as I grew up doing the same thing. What a great 2007 he had....
Comments:
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It is kind of lame, but New England did in fact used to be Giants territory. My dad certainly used to follow them and he isn't too old. I think that Giant glass might be grandfathered in.
Our neck of the woods used to be Redskins territory before the Panthers came along, and it's not really taboo to be a Washington fan, although I wonder if that will change as we get a whole generation into the Panther's existence. I still root for the Skins when it doesn't affect the Panthers adversely. Not sure how the locals would take a Redskin related product being hawked on the Panthers' network, though. Seems a little awkward, but I see his side. One likes to keep their long-established business identity, but still needs to advertise in one's target area.
I have no problem with Drinky the Kid following his multiple-city sports teams,
Those of us in Pro-Sports Wilderness often end up with multiple-city favorite teams.
I have a story on my blog about why I adopted the Sox as my own as a child. My football team became the Redskins, as I was always the kid who wanted to be an indian, not a cowboy, and they were kind of the local favorite too. Never really followed the NBA as a kid because we have UNC here and college basketball is so much more entertaining (imo). But as I got older I adopted the Lakers because of their multiple UNC connections.
We now have the NFL Panthers and the NBA Bobcats nearby, but I'm still not a big NBA fan. Baseball is still my favorite sport and the Sox and the Tarheels are the only teams I'm 100% locked into.
I have no problem with Drinky the Kid following his multiple-city sports teams,
Those of us in Pro-Sports Wilderness often end up with multiple-city favorite teams.
I have a story on my blog about why I adopted the Sox as my own as a child. My football team became the Redskins, as I was always the kid who wanted to be an indian, not a cowboy, and they were kind of the local favorite too. Never really followed the NBA as a kid because we have UNC here and college basketball is so much more entertaining (imo). But as I got older I adopted the Lakers because of their multiple UNC connections.
We now have the NFL Panthers and the NBA Bobcats nearby, but I'm still not a big NBA fan. Baseball is still my favorite sport and the Sox and the Tarheels are the only teams I'm 100% locked into.
Ryan--I definitely brought that up during that whole "everybody hates Jere" era, aka early last month. How the grandparents and sometimes parents of everybody around here are Giants fans.
sosock: Yeah, one thing that can allow for a legitimate loyalty change is a new team coming to your area.
sosock: Yeah, one thing that can allow for a legitimate loyalty change is a new team coming to your area.
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