John Clayton is ESPN’s resident football nerd. Depending on who you ask, he resembles a turtle or Mr. Peabody. Deadspin has wonderedwhether he has a ponytail. Now, ESPN is in on the gag too. In this latest commercial from the classic “This Is Sportcenter” campaign (created by Wieden + Kennedy New York), we see the real John Clayton. He’s a ponytail (skullet?) rocking metalhead who lives at home and aggressively eats Chinese food. Awesome. This one just came out today, but it’s already garnering a huge amount of buzz.
Sharing a name with a famous person seems like a drag. I’m not talking about naming your child after a celebrity…that’s just poor parenting. But sometimes people will have a certain name, and then another person with that name comes to fame. I saw a feature on ESPN a few months ago about average dudes around New England who happened to be named Tom Brady. I have a few experiences with that. I am Josh Weinstein. This Josh Weinstein (who also has a certain resemblance to me) used to be a writer/producer for The Simpsons. Of course, that just led to some good-natured jokes in elementary school about how they liked my episode last night. Then in college, I found out about this fictional Josh Weinstein from Entourage, who was a “pen-stealing fuckface”, and derisively called Josh Weinfuck. That was pretty funny too. But what if your name was Michael Jordan and you turned out to be a bland, probably not athletically gifted, white guy? ESPN and Wieden+Kennedy New York tell us the story. And here’s the scoop from AdFreak.
Occasionally, the NCAA shows these “Don’t Bet On It” commercials to discourage gambling on games. While making a valid point, they tend to be very heavy-handed. Unless you’re an NCAA athlete or an extremely heavy gambler, nothing is likely to happen. The government presumably (hopefully) has better things to do than bust up your March Madness bracket. But those gentleman’s bets can be dangerous too, as shown in a new spot for ESPN’s “It’s Not Crazy, It’s Sports” campaign, created by Wieden+Kennedy.
Hahaha. The ad shows the losers of college football bets in ridiculous situations, such as being the “Fart King” (complete with sandwich board and bell), eating the winner’s chest hair, and shaving your face/head into a football helmet. It’s quite funny, and it’s actually very realistic. Guys do stuff like this. But as AdFreak suggests (they’re beating me to the punch this week): “Next time I bet on my favorite team, I’ll play it safe and just bet the rent money.” Sage advice.
I was thinking of writing a long, in-depth post tonight. Then I remembered it’s Monday night. So instead I’m going to eat Popeyes, drink High Life, and watch Monday Night Football. At least I’m not being negligent like the guys in these hilarious MNF promo commercials, created by Wieden+Kennedy New York. Burning question: In the first video, what IS that animal? It looks like a bear.
A few announcements. First, this is the 100th post on Commercial Society. I’m the type who has a habit of starting projects with a lot of enthusiasm, only to abandon them quickly with equal enthusiasm, so I’m glad that I’ve been doing this for almost 4 months and 100 posts. Second, I’m shortly going to reach 3,000 pageviews. So thank you for reading, and if you haven’t been reading, you probably should.
One of the most interesting aspects about being a sports fan is considering WHY you’re actually such a big fan. Jerry Seinfeld once said that rooting for a team is really like rooting for clothes. In a sense he’s right, but there’s so much more than that. Sports teams bring pride (though sometimes shame), and a feeling of identity to their supporters. Life is transitory. Most people live in different places and friendships/relationships will often come and go. A team might be the only constant over a lifetime. In 2004, I was a college freshman in the Boston area. That year, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1918. Near school, there was a cemetery which I occasionally walked through. In the weeks after they won, there was a lot of Red Sox World Champions memorabilia on and around gravestones. It was a way of saying “the Red Sox finally did it, and I wish you were there to see.” That’s what being a fan means.
But as serious as fandom can be, there’s one situation where it shouldn’t be involved.
Funny. All her life, the woman has been talking and dreaming about the perfect proposal. When her Jimmy Fallon lookalike boyfriend (intentional?) finally pops the question, it’s on the Jumbotron at a baseball game. She says “sure”, but her face says it all. Guys, step it up. I know Detroit isn’t the world’s greatest place, but surely there’s a better place to propose than at Comerica Park in front of 40,000 people. Of course, this happens all the time to the point where it’s cliche. Another downside is that it puts a huge amount of pressure on the woman to say yes. Otherwise, both man and woman end up appearing idiotic, like these poorpeople (the second link is amazing, since the announcer is joking about the woman saying no right before it happens). So propose somewhere more meaningful, more intimate, and more private. Just remember, the Jumbotron is for cheesy dancing, not cheesy proposals.
I was on ESPN.com the other night and saw a banner ad that said something like “Run your own sports bar”. For some reason, I thought it was a contest to win a sports bar and was thus intrigued. Then I checked…and it was an online game for building a sports bar. And no, I’m not playing. I’d like to at least think that I have better things to do with my time.
I saw the commercial for it about 5 times today. Which is what happens when you have SportsCenter on in the background throughout the morning.
The bar fight, naked guy, and puking guy did make me laugh though. And if in case you’ve never been to an actual bar or frat party, the song playing is “Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money.
