MLB Today Breaking First Spots Of $65M Playoff Ad Campaign
 |
MLB Breaks $65M Playoff Ad Effort,
League's Largest Ever Campaign |
MLB today will break the first spots of a $65M playoff ad effort, "There's Only One October," the league's "largest ever" campaign, according to Tim Arango of the N.Y. TIMES. The spots, which will be shown on Fox, TBS and their affiliated nets, will feature "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, actor Timothy Hutton and comedians Frank Caliendo, Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall, as well as an animated Stewie from "Family Guy." Each spot is a "juxtaposition of baseball history and new media, with bloggers conjuring up" famous moments in MLB history. The message is "meant to be that even if your favorite team is out, you can tune in the playoffs to see something potentially historic." The campaign in September will "start including players from pennant-contending teams," and as the month progresses, the ads "will change to reflect the current story lines playing out on the field." Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins and 1B Ryan Howard Monday were filmed before the Dodgers-Phillies game, and the Cubs are "sure to figure prominently" in the campaign. MLB Exec VP/Business Tim Brosnan: "We need pennant races to go down to the wire, and we need some story like the Cubs to be front and center." Arango notes one 30-second spot "evokes the tortured history of the [Cubs], taps in to the iconography of new media and makes fun" of President Bush, played by Frank Caliendo. Caliendo closes the spot in his Bush voice saying of the "There's Only One October" tagline, "I'm pretty sure there's only one." The spot was a "source of considerable debate" at MLB, as Bush previously was an Owner of the Rangers. Brosnan: "We debated it long and hard. ... The question was, could we be seen as making fun? Everybody decided that the president likes Frank Caliendo and is a big baseball fan, and that we were having fun with him, but not at his expense" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/28).
|
Related Stories By Company
|
Related Stories By Sport
|
World Series Ratings Up 39% Over '08
November 6, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Fox' World Series Clincher Up 40%
November 5, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Selig Says '09 Was MLB's Greatest Season
November 5, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Yankees Win Prompts Tributes To The Boss
November 5, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Turner Selling Packages Of Its NBA Properties
November 5, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
Marketing Execs Rank World Series Players
November 6, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Jamie McCourt Not Reinstated As CEO
November 6, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
World Series Ratings Up 39% Over '08
November 6, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Stores Lacking Matsui World Series Gear
November 6, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Fox' World Series Clincher Up 40%
November 5, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
|
