Attending the X Games for the first time with his
children last Sunday, the S.F. CHRONICLE's Sam McManis
wrote, "It would be refreshing, I thought, to see a sporting
event devoid of the corporate taint so evident in more
established sports." But while McManis heard that the X
Games "were anti-Establishment, which presumably meant they
scorned corporate commercialism," he found the "multiple
examples of corporate saturation" to be "disheartening."
McManis: "I'm not naive. I know organizers must pay bills
with some type of sponsorship, but I thought the X Games
sneered at such blatant product placement. Still, the
advertising onslaught seemed a trifle X-cessive." McManis
added that by the time he and his kids "made it to the
entrance, ... my kids had enough corporate fliers and
freebies to wallpaper their bedrooms." While McManis
thought that the "commercialism would end" once inside the
gate, "logos abounded, affixed to poles, ramps and apparel."
McManis: "I couldn't help thinking a complete corporate
brainwashing was taking place when I saw customer after
customer waiting in line to snag a free sample of ...
Mountain Dew" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/25).
