OT - Advertising

[Screamin'Weasel]

I'll admit it: I have a soft spot for advertising...to a degree. When I see a great (read: clever/witty/humorous/artistically beautiful) ad, print or video, I love it. I used to watch a show called Firebrand that was nothing but great ads from around the world. I often visited their website (firebrand.com) as well (however, it has been unexplainably down for several months now...). A print ad I love, for example, was a full green page at Christmas time that read simply, "ingle ells, ingle ells" and at the bottom of the page said, "The holidays just aren't the same without J&B." That is clever and witty and I loved it.

 

However, the "product placement" in movies, tv shows (reality and scripted) and sports is becoming sickening: the red Coke glasses in front of the American Idol judges, Mountain Dew barrels on Survivor, Ashton Kutcher's John Deere hats on Punk'd, The Office characters meeting at Chilli's (and standing in front of huge signs to make sure everyone knows where they go for meetings) and sabrespace's own Hayden on Heroes, after getting a car for birthday, exclaiming, "Wow! A Nisson Rouge!"

 

As for sports (and this is the point of my post here on sabrespace.com), everything...wait...that needs to be written better...EVERYTHING (that's better) is sponsered. From time outs to stadium names, from kick offs to batting orders, everthing is "brought to you by..." When I hear those words in sports I want to stab myself in the head repeadtedly with a dull butterknife...I want to claw my eyes out and pour salt in the sockets...I want to shove a miniture die-cast replica model of the Empire State's Building into my ears and and force it home with a hammer...you get the idea.

 

We have all seen the ice at all the arenas covered with advertising, along with the boards, the benches, the ribbon screens, the scoreboards, and every space they could possibly fill with it. And I assume most of us have seen that European leagues, much like their soccer teams, look like NASCAR vehicles with all the advertising. I recently noticed many of the AHL teams sporting some on their sweaters now too (Portland has a McDonald's logo in a red circle on the front upper right).

 

My question to all of you (after this overly long build up) is this: how long before we are forced to see this on NHL team sweaters and will you be able to stomache it?

 

My personal opinion is within 2 years we will start to see it creep in and I will despise it and would never by a jersey with it on it.

 

EDIT: I realize RBK does "advertise" on the jerseys with thier patches, but, as they are the makers of the jerseys, I can overlook (or at least deal with) that.

[carpandean]

Here are you 2008 Veins, Veins, Veins Buffalo Sabres!!!!

[nucci]

Nice post! I still don't like the ads on the boards in the rinks. I was watching old games on NHL Network and the white boards look much better.

[PASabreFan]

Nice post! I still don't like the ads on the boards in the rinks. I was watching old games on NHL Network and the white boards look much better.

 

Interesting. I wonder if the white boards looked better to the shooters, too? I've had an off the wall theory for a while now that all the advertising clutter partly explained declining goals in hockey. I'm certain that can be easily shot down, but it's my story and I'm sticking with it.

[PASabreFan]

As for sports (and this is the point of my post here on sabrespace.com), everything...wait...that needs to be written better...EVERYTHING (that's better) is sponsered. From time outs to stadium names, from kick offs to batting orders, everthing is "brought to you by..." When I hear those words in sports I want to stab myself in the head repeadtedly with a dull butterknife...I want to claw my eyes out and pour salt in the sockets...I want to shove a miniture die-cast replica model of the Empire State's Building into my ears and and force it home with a hammer...you get the idea.

 

Well, you've got two of 'em in your avatar. <_<

 

Great post. I bet you and I are about the same age. At the very least, I think you are just starting to feel the footsteps of middle age. Change is hard. Winston Churchill once said, "He who is 20 and not liberal has no heart, he who is 40 and not conservative, no brain." Some things are worth preserving, and one of them is keeping excessive advertising out of the game-day experience. I say excessive because advertising has pretty much always been a part of sports. Look at the old ballfields from the 20s. What has changed is how pervasive it is.

 

On a related note, I just hate the canned music and piped-in crowd noise and all that. If fans won't cheer on their own, or don't know when to cheer, screw it. Let the arena be silent. Finally, GET RID OF THAT BLASTED HORN! Artie Baby Boo Boo says let the fans get into the game! Ptoooey on that crazy rock music!

[Taro T]

Interesting. I wonder if the white boards looked better to the shooters, too? I've had an off the wall theory for a while now that all the advertising clutter partly explained declining goals in hockey. I'm certain that can be easily shot down, but it's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Wouldn't white boards have helped the goalie pick up the black puck quicker than multicolored boards which have a fair amount of black for the puck to get "lost" in?

 

(Not saying the advertising plays a role either way, but the boards contributing to higher GAA's would seem more plausible IMHO.)

[MattPie]

I'll admit it: I have a soft spot for advertising...to a degree. When I see a great (read: clever/witty/humorous/artistically beautiful) ad, print or video, I love it. I used to watch a show called Firebrand that was nothing but great ads from around the world. I often visited their website (firebrand.com) as well (however, it has been unexplainably down for several months now...). A print ad I love, for example, was a full green page at Christmas time that read simply, "ingle ells, ingle ells" and at the bottom of the page said, "The holidays just aren't the same without J&B." That is clever and witty and I loved it.

 

I remember reading something about this awhile back. The jist was that no one watched commercials, either because they go check email whatever or are watching via a DVR and fast forward.[0] Web advertising is in the tubes, so the companies are trying to find a place to put stuff where people are paying attention. So they 'bring you' (as in 'brought to you by') stuff, do product placement in TV shows or whatnot.

 

Have you noticed that most of the OCC choppers in the more recent shows have been for some company? How else are you going to get people to sit and watch as the TV endlessly says 'John Deere Chopper'.

 

 

[0] I do this all the time. I'll watch a period of hockey, start the recording, either watch something else or do something useful for a half hour. I then fast-forward through intermission. If I tine it right, I'll be fast-forwarding through the last of the in-period commercials just as the period is ending. Repeat. :)

[Goodfella25]

I agree with you, it's the out of the world.

 

That being said, I can't help but laugh every single time I'm in the HSBC arena and see a giant ad that just says plainly "EliminateSweating.com".

[PASabreFan]

Wouldn't white boards have helped the goalie pick up the black puck quicker than multicolored boards which have a fair amount of black for the puck to get "lost" in?

 

(Not saying the advertising plays a role either way, but the boards contributing to higher GAA's would seem more plausible IMHO.)

 

It might depend on where the shot is coming from. Wouldn't a point shot be less bothersome in this regard, considering that the visual clutter is almost 200 feet away? (What is the depth of field for the human eye? Does this bring back into play Ryan's skunk eye?)

 

But a shot from the side boards would bring those ads into play, I'd think.

 

I was thinking more about the background visual clutter that shooters have to deal with.

 

Wow, it is July, isn't it?

[darksabre]

My uncle works for the university of georgia and he does things pertaining to how images play tricks on the mind and stuff. Maybe I'll shoot him an email and see what he could have to say on it. There might be some legitimacy to the idea that all the ads on the boards could cause some issues.

[Taro T]

It might depend on where the shot is coming from. Wouldn't a point shot be less bothersome in this regard, considering that the visual clutter is almost 200 feet away? (What is the depth of field for the human eye? Does this bring back into play Ryan's skunk eye?)

 

But a shot from the side boards would bring those ads into play, I'd think.

 

I was thinking more about the background visual clutter that shooters have to deal with.

 

Wow, it is July, isn't it?

1st your Q - yeah, IF ads on the boards do effect a goalie's perception, I'd expect it to be a bigger factor on a shot coming from a steeper angle. In any case, the only reason I'd see it POSSIBLY being an issue for a goalie is when a puck is moving 100 mph it doesn't take losing sight of the puck for very long to mess up a reflex action.

 

I'd be more surprised to see a shooter effected by ads on the boards, as their reaction time doesn't need to be as short as the goalie's does. And I'd expect the issue for the shooter being more of one of him getting distracted and aiming at something on the boards rather than "top shelf where Mama hides the cookies"; considering the ads are at least 11' away from the net I'd expect the depth perception of the shooter to help keep him focused. (Maybe it's an issue for Bryan Berard?) Of course, that said, the angled patterns on goalie leg pads are supposed to make a shooter think he has more room to shoot than he does; so maybe the ads could effect a shooter.

 

I'd be interested to read what d4rk's uncle has to say about the issue.

[evil_otto]

My uncle works for the university of georgia and he does things pertaining to how images play tricks on the mind and stuff. Maybe I'll shoot him an email and see what he could have to say on it. There might be some legitimacy to the idea that all the ads on the boards could cause some issues.

Like these?:)

[PASabreFan]

This one caught my eye today. Not quite as bad, or as funny, as the examples above, but still...

[ReneRobert]

Like these?:)

 

 

Do I even want to ask what #3 is supposed to be advertising? :sick:

[bob_sauve28]

Thanks Screamin Weasel, great post.

 

One reason I so much love NHL hockey over NFL football is that football has basically become one long infomercial for corporate interests. I can't sit there and watch 15 minutes of game and 2 and a half hours of stupid advertising. I end up after the first kick off figuring I have 4 minutes to run and clean something in the house and come back and find I missed the first three plays, no problem, punt then 4 more minutes of commercials so I'm off again doing something else, and this just repeats itself till I realize I'm not even watching the game. :wallbash:

 

The new super duper scoreboard at HSBC. Its great. Love it. Sometimes I find myself watching it instead of the game. But it also has that insidious side of bringing us more commercials. :censored: The last thing I want to see at a Sabres games is a veins, veins, veins commercials!! And its extra loud and in your face there. Very annoying. Yes, I know, without those commerials the score board couldn't even be there.

 

I too love well done commercials. Humor, creativity and even beauty are all used very well in many advertising skits.

[jwcolour]

Advertising is a necessary evil. Without it the League(s) and our teams can't survive, nothing really exciting happens in the down time between punts. I mean when you are at a game all you do is talk to people around you or drink... plus people like a to "make a day" out of going to say a Bills game or a Sabres game and Baseball games... I certainly am in no rush where I want to spend say $70 on a ticket and be out of there in an hour.. who knows what a ticket price would be if there wasn't advertising around. It really doesn't bother me, I usually don't even consciously notice them... Though I wouldn't want any Hockey jerseys looking like the #%^$#! that have in Europe where there is literally a sponsor or logo on every pad...

 

You guys say you like the nifty jumbotron screens... a lot of this stuff is built keeping in mind that they'll use advertisements to offset the cost. That thing may not even exist without Tim Horton's slapping a big ol' sticker on it... If they didn't put advertisements on it you guys would be wondering why the hell they weren't doing more with such a kick ass screen... are you really missing anything while the commercial is going on? Hell use the down time to take a leak and grab another Labbatt, god knows both those lines will kill you waiting sometimes...

 

Its easy to just say they are annoying and do away with them...but there are ramifications that we don't really think about if there were to suddenly be no advertisments anywhere.

[Bmwolf21]

I'm not a fan of the over-commercialization of sports, but given a choice I'd rather see segments of the game sponsored by Company X than extra commercials. Too bad the NFL decided to piss everyone off and go both ways - selling sponsorship to everything AND increasing the TV commercials, TV timeouts, etc.