Tag: baseball

Baseball ads and culture

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date November 3, 2014

For the first time, I was able to watch at least some of every game of the World Series. For a long-time baseball fan, this was a big deal that has been a long time in coming. But since I am not a big TV watcher, I am not as adept as some at escaping the commercials. Oh yes, I take snack breaks, probably a few too many of them. But, still over the course of the World Series, I watched a lot of ads, many of them multiple times. So I decided to make watching ads a little more interesting and become a critical observer of them. The results of this are my own annotated lists of the best and worst of them.

Here are five of my most important criteria.

Was there creative energy in it?
Did it have a positive message overall, positive for the company and for our culture?
Was it interesting? Did I enjoy watching it?
Did it respect my intelligence?
Did it fit and respect the venue?

Okay, here are the top five

Mo’ne Davis – This ad was sponsored by Chevrolet. It championed the rise of women’s sports in America today and fitted with the World Series by featuring a young girl who can pitch a baseball 70 mph at the age of 13. By the end of the ad, I wanted to know what company had the wisdom and welcome sense of Americana to sponsor it.
T-Mobile’s the Big 7th – This ad reflected the interactive nature of the world today, something that cell-phones are exploiting for better or worse. The ad was shown as part of the traditional 7^th inning stretch. It allowed the audience to be part of the ad in the way that TV announcers at games are trying to do by showing fan clips.
Anheuser-Busch – the history of baseball. The ad showed great moments in baseball history through the experience of fans of that time in history. It was appropriately sepia in tone for the oldest ones too. I loved the Babe Ruth’s speech over the radio moment. I’m not a fan of alcoholic beverages, but I have to hand it to the people who do advertising for Budweiser.
Nissan Rogue – the little boy’s ride home. The ad was a gem of creativity. It seemed to flow from the fresh mind of a child where the line between fantasy and reality is very thin. It was fascinating to follow. It captured the desired feeling tone of security very successfully too.
HP ad with the lost iguana — This ad successfully showed that HP has many products while keeping attention with a mini-story of a child-prodigy manager who smoothly runs his campaign to find his lost iguana using HP technology. Two favorite moments – he’s in bed and lights up the town with big screen ads at the click of a button on his phone; and, like a big-time CEO with a little too much confidence, he rightly predicts the knock at the door.

When I finished making this list, I noticed that four of the top five winners also had great story lines. Interesting!

No ad rating would be complete without talking about the losers as well. The World Series had plenty of them too. When these played I went to get a snack whenever possible.

Painfully awkward Rob Lowe – This ad was banal and offensive to my intelligence from the beginning. Do ad makers really think people are that dumb? It was unkind to those who are not with it. It sealed its fate as the worst of the worst by sinking to offensive and unnecessary toilet humor at the end. Direct TV – you lose.
Dumb and Dumber 2 – This is the trashiest ad for a trashy program. Raunch and idiocy replacing humor! Enough said.
Geico – Ickey Woods – celebrate anything. This whole series of ads has long ago lost its punch. You can only ride a good idea (..but did you know that…) so far. This one rode it ad nauseam. More stupidity. Seeing ads like this confirms how TV in general has sunk so low that smart people seldom can find a show to watch.
Rob Lowe – Creepy – Direct TV loses again. This one was not quite as low as the other one as it had no toilet humor. But it still insulted my intelligence. Do they really think I would choose Direct TV because one creepy person uses cable? I’m not impressed by actors playing different roles. I felt creepy about the whole ad.
Sonos your home – The one where gold crept up the walls. This one is gross and seems more like a horror flick where the viewer is about to be engulfed in good-looking yuck. It is on the list because it failed spectacularly in the basic task of advertising – making a positive emotional appeal on behalf of the product.

Well, that’s my take. Any comments? What were your favorites and what ads were the butt of your jokes?

Tags advertising, baseball, creativity, moral issues today

Americana Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

Red Wing Baseball and Houghton

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date June 23, 2012
2 Comments on Red Wing Baseball and Houghton

Tonight I had the privilege of attending Houghton night at Frontier field in Rochester. It was hosted by Red Wing’s Board Chairman Gary Larder who is also a member of the Houghton College board of Trustees with me. I met several Houghton friends I have known for many years and chatted with one young alumni named Ryan at the picnic. We discussed what an advantage it is to graduates to have the good reputation of Houghton backing them when they apply for graduate school. He had been accepted into an MBA program and anticipated some sports involvement on the side as well. He felt that the name of Houghton had definitely been important in that process.

The game was a delight too as the underdog Red Wings won a pitcher’s duel over one of Charlotte’s best pitchers. Red Wing hitters managed just three runs and missed some golden opportunities as always happens in baseball, but it was enough as Red Wing pitchers shut out Charlotte. The night was perfect for baseball too – lots of sun, just a slight breeze, and not too hot.

I drove home joyfully with country music blaring, something my wife’s sensitive and classically cultured ears could never endure.

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Tags baseball, Houghton College, summer fun

Americana Journal

Baseball Hall of Fame

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date July 21, 2011

Cooperstown visit

I’m supposed to be on vacation this week, but as is often the case, I’m having difficulty making a clean break. Worked today and yesterday, but Tuesday we took off for Cooperstown. I have always wanted to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Cooperstown is a delightful old lakeside village with much in common with CNY and Fingerlakes gems like Cazenovia, Penn Yan, Watkins Glen, Hammondsport, Skaneateles and Geneva—classic architecture, restored houses, not too wide streets, quaint shops, flower beds and boxes, and places that just make you wonder what stories they could tell if they could only speak. It is also blessed with more places to eat – including good ice cream—than most towns its size.

Two sections

The Hall of Fame has two sections, the Hall of Fame itself with a formal plaque for each one recognized; and the museum part where the clothes, bats, lockers, etc. of all the inductees are displayed and where stories of famous players are told via posters, videos, print and displays. Of course everyone was drawn to the story of one of the most famous players of all time, Babe Ruth; but I found myself fascinated by a side story. The museum had a display that focused on the black leagues or “colored leagues” as they would have been called. I viewed that story and then took special note of early black players who were instrumental in breaking the color barrier in baseball; men like Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron. Their courage, patience, character and humility, were just as essential to their success as was the overwhelming athletic talent that propelled them to baseball greatness.

Another interesting section was the comparative stats area; it answered questions like who has the most hits; the best batting average, the most hits in a row, the most strikeouts, the most home runs, etc. I also enjoyed the room that told the story of the Cooperstown museum itself and also the movie theatre baseball theme presentation. Outside the building was a hand kept major league standings scoreboard up-to-date for that day. Baseball souvenir stores are abundant – a ball autographed by Hank Aaron – about $350 – I didn’t buy it.

I highly recommend it!

It took me about 3 hours to go through the Museum and Hall of Fame and I could have spent longer. I highly recommend it to any baseball fan.

I wore my Syracuse Chief’s hat and one person even noticed and mentioned that they had recently seen the Chiefs. Unfortunately, I haven’t been to a game yet this year but hope to attend soon. However, I follow them on the internet several times weekly to keep abreast of their season.

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Tags baseball, Cooperstown, summer fun

Americana Journal Who Am I

Alliance Bank Stadium and Community Wesleyan Church

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date October 7, 2010

It’s October and the Major League Baseball play-offs are beginning already. It reminds me that I was happy to attend the last home game for the Chiefs this summer. By now, I’ve forgotten the score, but I remember the atmosphere and the good feeling of being at the ball park. I think about it as I watch the Yankees beat the Twins on TV. As good as TV coverage is, it’s just not the same as being there. When you are in the stadium, you feel part of the action and part of the team’s extended family—its fans. When you like baseball, there’s just something about being at the park watching. The field was immaculately groomed. I love the new real grass field. The food was great–white hots are the best deal and they were super. I bought a new cap to advertise that I’m a fan. And it turned out to be fireworks night too, which I didn’t know when I went. (I looked the game on the website. The Chiefs beat the Redwings 7-3 on 9-2-10) It’s always nice if the team wins. But you want to be there anyway whether they do nor not. I took a few snapshots that turned out okay considering the level of camera I use.

I started thinking – dangerous, I know. I hope people who identify themselves as Christians feel like they want to be at church too—like they want to be in on the action; like they are part of an extended family, because they are. They are on Christ’s team. Whether it’s a big Sunday in the church schedule or an ordinary one, whether the pastor hits a home run with his sermon or strikes out, I hope they are just glad to be in God’s house; sensing His presence, offering their own praises, saying their own prayers encouraging others, and generally adding to the excitement of the moment by being there. It’s what fans do. And some morning – just anytime –there might turn out to be fireworks of a different kind – a time when God makes his presence known in a special way to you or to the congregation. You’ll forget most everything else about that service, but not your own encounter with God. And you will want more of those touches.

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Tags baseball, church attendance, Syracuse Chiefs

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