The Mariners yesterday launched their annual series of commercials that will run throughout the season on local and regional TV. One ad called "K-Swag" shows a fictional marketing team coming up with a new image for 3B Kyle Seager, while in "Mirror Images," 2B Robinson Cano is stunned to see a reflection of hitting coach Edgar Martinez in a clubhouse mirror. "Clubhouse Questions" depicts three new Mariners players peppering P Felix Hernandez with questions, while "Nellie's AutoGlass" features a commercial-within-a-commercial, showing RF Nelson Cruz has opened his own auto glass repair business. The team collaborated with Copacino+Fujikado, Seattle, on the creative (
Mariners). YAHOO SPORTS' Mark Townsend noted the "coolest part" of the Cruz commercial is that people who dial the phone number mentioned will "actually get a recorded message from Cruz followed by a home run highlight." It is "those types of details that turn good commercials into home runs" (
SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/16).
SHOW ME THE FUNNY: In Seattle, Ryan Divish wrote the ads, as in previous years, are "very well done and try to be humorous in nature." While the team's four top players -- Hernandez, Cruz, Cano and Seager -- have their "own separate commercials," the ads are "filled with cameos of other players and coaches and staff" (
SEATTLETIMES.com, 3/16). MLB.com's Greg Johns wrote Mariners fans likely will "get a chuckle from the reappearance of Martinez ... complete with a throwback reference to his famous 'light bat' commercials that were actually part of a local Seattle advertising series in the 1990s." Additionally, team insiders "will appreciate the end" of the Hernandez spot, which has longtime clubhouse assistant Pete Fortune "bidding goodnight to Hernandez as he departs in royal fashion" (
MLB.com, 3/16). In Tacoma, Bob Dutton wrote it is "always a spring highlight when the Mariners unveil their new television commercials." This year's batch is "predictably charming" (
THENEWSTRIBUNE.com, 3/16). SEATTLEPI.com's Adam Lewis wrote, "If only the Seattle Mariners were always as good as their commercials." In addition to the four ads, the team also released a "collection of outtakes" (
SEATTLEPI.com, 3/16).
