NBC Sports Group and the NHL last night on NBCSN debuted an ad campaign promoting the Rangers-Bruins '13 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown, scheduled for Nov. 29 at 1:00pm ET on NBC. Movie director Bobby Farrelly worked on the multiplatform campaign, which includes three 30-second TV spots and an extended version to run online. The ads were shot in Boston and feature Bruins President and Hockey HOFer Cam Neely and former NHLer Mike Richter (NBC Sports Group). Farrelly said that he had talked to NBC "about doing something similar in the past, but the circumstances weren't right." VARIETY's Brian Steinberg noted this time Farrelly's "love of the Bruins and the sport spurred him on." The promo "shows a Boston family that loves the Bruins beset each year with a tough problem: a group of New York cousins who love the Rangers and challenge them to a mean game of street hockey." Neely and Richter "join the contest in one promo and, in another, attempt to make peace between the two factions by offering Boston cream pie and New York cheesecake, which only serves to infuriate everyone further" (VARIETY.com, 10/30).
TRICK OR TREAT: MSG Network today is airing "Masked Men," a "marathon of programming dedicated to goaltenders and their masks." The effort combines the "celebration of the 54th anniversary of the goalie mask in the NHL and the Halloween spirit" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 10/31).
