Rituals unique to cities are being used by CBS Sports to build anticipation among NFL fans nationwide.
In a promotional campaign that was scheduled to break this past Saturday, four spots highlight the fanatical nature of fans in four AFC markets — New York, Buffalo, Cleveland and Denver.
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| One ad shows Bills fans getting warmed up for Buffalo football weather. |
In one of the spots, all produced in-house, a teacher asks schoolchildren to spell aloud words, such as "trains" and "cars," written on a chalkboard. When she asks for the spelling of "jets," she is greeted by a howl of "J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets" from none other than the famous "Fireman," who leads that chant at all Jets home games. The spot ends with him writing "I will raise my hand" again and again on the chalkboard as a punishment.
The Buffalo spot shows fans painted in Bills red and blue, wearing jerseys and winter jackets all bearing team logos as snow falls on their heads. The camera pulls back to show they are huddled together in an otherwise empty stadium on a brilliant summer day, underneath a canopy being shaken to drop fake snow on their heads.
The spots will run in various network programming from now until the early weeks of the season. Multiple versions of each will be in the rotation, but as of now there are no plans to expand the campaign to include other cities.
— Andy Bernstein
