Wednesday, May 05, 2004
More on the Spider-Man Bases
Ronald Blum of the AP has secured quotes from some MLB executives about the decision to sell advertising space on the bases from June 11-13. (Here's a large photo of the Spider-Man base.) Let's turn on the BS detector and see what happens.
MLB President Bob DuPuy: "This was a unique chance to combine what is a sort of a universally popular character and our broad fan base, including the youth market we're trying to reach out to.''
BZZT! There's nothing "unique" about Spider-Man 2. The original Spider-Man is the fifth highest-grossing domestic release of all time (unadjusted for inflation). Of the top 12, only three -- Titanic, The Passion of the Christ, and Forrest Gump -- wouldn't lend themselves to a similar promotion. (I don't want to think what a Passion of the Christ ballpark promotion-plus-giveaways would look like.) So would dozens of other films, including any animated "family" movie or anything else based on a comic strip character.
DuPuy: "It doesn't impact the play or performance of the game."
True. At least MLB rejected the proposal to put Spider-Man mesh on the backstop. But if that's the only standard, will we soon be treated to corporate logos mowed into the center field grass and painted on the on-deck circle?
The movie promotion has been in the works for more than a year and will include ad buys and ballpark events, such as giving masks to fans, said Jacqueline Parkes, baseball's senior vice president for marketing and advertising.
Fine. No one objects to the ad buys or giveaways. But who approved advertisements on the field itself during the games? That sounds like a throwaway, can't-hurt-to-ask request by Spider Man's ad agency, which MLB unaccountably accepted.
"'We need to reach out to a younger demographic to bring them to the ballpark,' Parkes said."
No argument here. But adding logos on the bases antagonizes millions of existing fans without attracting a single kid who wouldn't otherwise have come for the rest of the promotion.
Parkes: "They are looking for nontraditional breakthrough ways to convey 'Spider-Man' messaging."
No kidding. But if a medium hasn't been used before, you might want to think why.
Parkes: "It's the future of how we generate excitement inside the stadium and about the game itself."
BZZT! Advertising on the bases doesn't generate excitement about the game itself. The excitement it generates detracts from the game, as every exposure to the Spider-Man ad distracts the observer from what she wants to see. In Parkes' mind, the game exists principally to attract the largest possible audience for her ads.
Fay Vincent, who used to run both MLB and Spider-Man's studio, Columbia Pictures: "I'm old-fashioned. I'm a romanticist. I think the bases should be protected from this. I feel the same way I do when I see jockeys wear ads: Maybe this is progress, but there's something in me that regrets it very much." Asked how his friend Bart Giamatti would have reacted to this development, Vincent said: "Wherever he is, Bart is spinning. It's a good thing he's not around.''
On-field advertising also undercuts the Commissioner's attempts to level the playing field through revenue sharing and the growth of shared revenues. For hosting the Spider-Man promotion, the Yankees and Red Sox will receive over $100,000 each. Most of the other 13 clubs playing at home that weekend will receive $50,000, while all of the road teams will receive $0. (All clubs will, of course, share in the money paid directly to MLB.) If the taboo against on-field advertising falls, the Yankees and Red Sox would take in more money in a week than Bud's Brewers would make all season.
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Ronald Blum of the AP has secured quotes from some MLB executives about the decision to sell advertising space on the bases from June 11-13. (Here's a large photo of the Spider-Man base.) Let's turn on the BS detector and see what happens.
MLB President Bob DuPuy: "This was a unique chance to combine what is a sort of a universally popular character and our broad fan base, including the youth market we're trying to reach out to.''
BZZT! There's nothing "unique" about Spider-Man 2. The original Spider-Man is the fifth highest-grossing domestic release of all time (unadjusted for inflation). Of the top 12, only three -- Titanic, The Passion of the Christ, and Forrest Gump -- wouldn't lend themselves to a similar promotion. (I don't want to think what a Passion of the Christ ballpark promotion-plus-giveaways would look like.) So would dozens of other films, including any animated "family" movie or anything else based on a comic strip character.
DuPuy: "It doesn't impact the play or performance of the game."
True. At least MLB rejected the proposal to put Spider-Man mesh on the backstop. But if that's the only standard, will we soon be treated to corporate logos mowed into the center field grass and painted on the on-deck circle?
The movie promotion has been in the works for more than a year and will include ad buys and ballpark events, such as giving masks to fans, said Jacqueline Parkes, baseball's senior vice president for marketing and advertising.
Fine. No one objects to the ad buys or giveaways. But who approved advertisements on the field itself during the games? That sounds like a throwaway, can't-hurt-to-ask request by Spider Man's ad agency, which MLB unaccountably accepted.
"'We need to reach out to a younger demographic to bring them to the ballpark,' Parkes said."
No argument here. But adding logos on the bases antagonizes millions of existing fans without attracting a single kid who wouldn't otherwise have come for the rest of the promotion.
Parkes: "They are looking for nontraditional breakthrough ways to convey 'Spider-Man' messaging."
No kidding. But if a medium hasn't been used before, you might want to think why.
Parkes: "It's the future of how we generate excitement inside the stadium and about the game itself."
BZZT! Advertising on the bases doesn't generate excitement about the game itself. The excitement it generates detracts from the game, as every exposure to the Spider-Man ad distracts the observer from what she wants to see. In Parkes' mind, the game exists principally to attract the largest possible audience for her ads.
Fay Vincent, who used to run both MLB and Spider-Man's studio, Columbia Pictures: "I'm old-fashioned. I'm a romanticist. I think the bases should be protected from this. I feel the same way I do when I see jockeys wear ads: Maybe this is progress, but there's something in me that regrets it very much." Asked how his friend Bart Giamatti would have reacted to this development, Vincent said: "Wherever he is, Bart is spinning. It's a good thing he's not around.''
On-field advertising also undercuts the Commissioner's attempts to level the playing field through revenue sharing and the growth of shared revenues. For hosting the Spider-Man promotion, the Yankees and Red Sox will receive over $100,000 each. Most of the other 13 clubs playing at home that weekend will receive $50,000, while all of the road teams will receive $0. (All clubs will, of course, share in the money paid directly to MLB.) If the taboo against on-field advertising falls, the Yankees and Red Sox would take in more money in a week than Bud's Brewers would make all season.
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