In Boston, Marie Szaniszlo reports iRobot signed Patriots DT Vince Wilfork and his family “to do a series of mini-sitcoms for the Web, pairing the family up with the Bedford company’s robotic vacuum cleaner.” The first installment of “At Home with the Wilforks” at www.youtube.com/irobot is “cleaning up, with thousands of views so far.” Four more episodes “will debut over the coming weeks featuring the family with other robots” (BOSTON HERALD, 12/20).
CURB APPEAL: Mercedes-Benz USA President & CEO Steve Cannon said that “you can't just play a normal ad of a car in the Super Bowl.” ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell wrote: “You have to spice it up a bit.” Thus in the “spirit of connecting breakthrough celebrities with the type of young buyer they are looking for, they hired supermodel Kate Upton and Usher.” Cannon said, "If you want to get the younger generation, you are going to have to make a pop culture play. You can't bring out Clint Eastwood from the Republican convention" (ESPN.com, 12/19).
UP TO BAT: In Baltimore, Chris Kaltenbach reported the Orioles are sponsoring the city’s Inner Harbor New Year’s celebration and it “should surprise no one that the musical accompaniment to the fireworks will include the Orioles' unofficial anthem, ‘Orioles Magic,’ and The Wanted's ‘Glad You Came,’ a song played repeatedly during the team's playoff drive” (BALTIMORESUN.com, 12/19).
