TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Thursday, May 06, 2004

Since no one else has yet posted about the latest and lowest outrage perpetrated on the fans, allow me to be the first.

As you're probably heard, Major League Baseball has decided to sell advertising space on the bases -- yes, on the bases -- to a movie promotion. I'm sure Spiderman 2 will be a heckuva movie, but it's not, apparently, even a baseball movie.

MLB is making a measly $3.6 million on this, which might seem cheap (just over $100,000 per team), only it's probably just the beginning.

I'm no purist about advertising per se -- I didn't really object to the return of outfield advertising to the outfield fences, which is now in every major league park except Montreal, where they can't sell it because it doesn't appear on local TV, in part because outfield advertising was present in the 19th century and never left the minor leagues.

But the idea of using the field itself to advertise stuff means you just can't get away from it. I'm sure before long we'll be hearing the Fox announcers talk about the virtues of the Fox fall lineup, with stars of those shows featured on the Louisville Slugger. In short, it's intruding on the game.

Even if you allow that MLB ought to be advertising on its equipment, however, the complete line of bullwash and hogwarts being handed out by the Commissioner's office is truly reprehensible.

Major League Baseball's official press release includes this incredibly specious justification:

"Over the past year and a half, we've been doing substantive research to determine the best ways to market the game into the 21st century, and we have overwhelming evidence that we have a property that's . . . never been stronger," said Jacqueline Parkes, senior vice president of advertising and marketing for MLB. "One thing that came out of the research is that we have a huge opportunity with kids, to bring them into the game. We needed to engage them in relevant and meaningful ways.

See, it's all for the kids -- they're not selling advertising to make money, they're doing it to attract kids into the game! See, it's not about their greed for squeezing out more money, it's all about the kids and passing that tradition on.

Yes, junior, I know you think baseball is boring, but if we go to the game today, you'll be able to see the Spiderman 2 logo about 400 feet away on second base! Won't that be exciting??

There are two possibilities here:

(1) MLB really believes that the best way to market the greatest game on earth is through cheap product and movie tie-ins, like baseball was some kind of happy meal. Gosh, that shows a lot of confidence in the value of your product, doesn't it?

(2) They're completely disingenuous about their motives.

Take your pick, just when the idea of a World Cup makes me think maybe they're not all dullards at MLB HQ, they turn around and do something just plain awful like this.

At the bottom of all this, of course, is the continued merchandising of our children -- the idea that kids are little consumers and their lives, likes, and interests in something as engrossing as baseball are purely products of advertising. It's the ultimate surrender of content to hype, and if the bases seem like a little thing, just you wait.

Baseball has actually already gone down the first steps of the path to fictionalizing its game for TV advertising, by having the 'green screen' advertisements that seem to appear behind the plate and on the grass that are projections -- they don't actually appear in the park. They're editing reality for the TV audience. If you think that will never creep into the game...I give you Spiderman 2.

posted by The Crank 3:53 PM