An ad campaign that "offended the Knicks by asking New Yorkers if they were hopeful or hopeless about the hapless team will be stripped from the subway cars they were placed on" just one day after being unveiled, according to Kevin Draper of the N.Y. TIMES. On Monday, riders "first noticed that cars on shuttle trains between Grand Central Station and Times Square had been wrapped with a series of sports-themed messages, bearing the logo of FS1." The advertisements "focused on hot-button sports issues, such as NBA superteams." But the messages that "got the most attention took aim at the Knicks." On the outside of the subway cars, a full vinyl wrap "asked whether fans were 'hopeful' or 'hopeless' about the Knicks." Inside the train, seats "carried a number of negative messages about the franchise, including: 'Nothing Will Change Until Dolan Sells the Team,'" a reference to Owner James Dolan. There were also "more positive messages like 'Porzingis Was Designed In A Lab.'" An Outfront Media spokesperson, whose firm handles subway advertising for the MTA, said that the campaign will be "coming down at the request of Fox Sports." Draper writes Fox Sports execs have "positioned the network as edgier and more fun than ESPN, introducing a number of daytime opinion shows." A buzz-generating ad campaign seemed "perfectly in character" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/4). ZAGSBLOG.com's Adam Zagoria cited a source as saying that Dolan called 21st Century Fox Exec Chair Rupert Murdoch yesterday "furious" about the ad campaign (ZAGSBLOG.com, 10/3). ESPN.com's Darren Rovell cited a source as saying that the Knicks, whose logos and players were used in the ad, "did not approve the advertising" (ESPN.com, 10/3). The ads were "originally intended to run for four weeks" (N.Y. POST, 10/4).
TWITTER REAX: SLAM Magazine's Ryan Jones tweeted, "Coldest thing about those Knicks-mocking FS1 subway ads is how much they pick on Noah, the one Knick who might actually take the train." N.Y. Daily News' Frank Isola: "You may be angry but you can't accuse that subway campaign of being false advertising." Bleacher Report's Yaron Weitzman: "Are the Knicks hopeless or hopeful? I'm embracing FS1's debate." DDG Social Media Consultant Tariq Ahmad: "Shots landed by FS1 on the Knicks."
