Want to discuss any hockey related issues? Heard some interesting news? Watched a great game? Heard an interesting rumor or quote? Talk about it here! CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Most recently is because I've noticed that just like Joe says in his previous post, they are officially calling it the Cold-FX/NHL All Star Game What a crock!!! I can't effin believe that they've ceeded the naming so fully. I mean it's not just the NHL All Star Game brought to you by Cold-FX or anything as is the current trend (now to the Visa Halftime Report! ) but they've put the sponsor on EQUAL ground with league and even let their name be first!!!!!!!!! What the Dickens???!?!?!?
Ah but just wait. Pretty soon we will have the "AOL-Time-Warner-Hooters" Stanley Cup Championship. Whoever pays the most gets the most. What the heck is THE PEACH BOWL called now?
The only thing that kept Soldier Field here in Chicago from getting a Corporate Renaming is the fact the the stadium is in fact dedicated to the lost soldier's of the World Wars and Veteran's groups were able to put enough pressure on to not have it become "named".
CANADA will start a war if the Stanley Cup Playoffs get renames anything corporate...unless of course it is one of two things:
1. The Tim Hortons Stanley Cup Playoffs
2. Stanley (tools) Cup Playoffs
Corporate naming sucks. GM Place...um what the heck does GM do in Vancouver? Nothing at all.
If you watch a New York Rangers home broadcast they pretty much do that already. Their power plays are sponsored and John Davidson actually has to say "Well the will be two minutes os the Rangers will go on the Minolta Power play for two minutes now. Remember great things come from the mind of Minolta." or some such rubbish, they have to say the darn tagline every time they mention there is a penalty being called.
Most teams have their replays brought to you by someone too: "Okay, now let's look back at this Verizon Wireless replay to see if he stopped that one before the line or not" It's the incorporation of the tagline into the game with the Rangers though that really gets me all
Minstrel wrote:If you watch a New York Rangers home broadcast they pretty much do that already. Their power plays are sponsored and John Davidson actually has to say "Well the will be two minutes os the Rangers will go on the Minolta Power play for two minutes now. Remember great things come from the mind of Minolta." or some such rubbish, they have to say the darn tagline every time they mention there is a penalty being called.
Oh dear. I don't think I will ever joke about over-commercialization anymore. It seems like every time I think I've come up with something that's over the top, somebody's already taken the next step for real.
BTW, given rubbish like this, I think it's remarkable that the NHL has still managed to keep team jerseys ad-free. The ones in our Finnish league look awful; some have a horrible base design, but even the ones that don't are spoiled by the patchwork of small ads and sponsor names all over the place.
batdad wrote:THE NHLPA is very very anti jersey ads. Helmet ads too. But I can see it coming now that they are "partners" with the NHL owners.
Wasn't that one of the main reasons Nike slowly got into hockey equipment though? I also like to notice how in the most recent EA games, the gear is all highly individualized, just like in real life. So who needs that helmet add, when the helmet is distictivley Nike, as are the skates.
The last All-Star jerseys had a big advertising patch on them, I've blocked out for who though and we at the time were saying this was the beginning of NHL jersey patches ala the Euro leagues or "The Nascar Look" as my friends call it. That didn't happen though but I'm 100% positive that this years will have significant Cold-FX advertising on them of course
And they will be those form-fitting jerseys that tuck into the pants. I hate change. Anytime the NHL tries anything with uni's it is bad. Cooperalls for example.
If you think the ads are bad now... just look at all the room they have left. They have most of the ice they can still cover, they've got all the jerseys they can cover, they even have the socks/pants/helmets to cover. And worse yet... I have a feeling that someone down the road will think of using that one-way paint to paint sponsors on the inside of the glass. 20 years from now, kids will be watching todays classic games, and they'll marvel at how "bare" things used to be.
It's already that way as I've mentioned with how blank rink boards and ice are from even back in the 80s.
I do fear for the amount of blank space on your average NHL jersey as well as the lenght/space available up and down the right and left sides of hockey pants.
B. Stinson wrote:If you think the ads are bad now... just look at all the room they have left. They have most of the ice they can still cover.
They still have to work out the whole black puck on white ice thing before they can plaster ads all over the place. And the Fox Trax puck was down right terrible, so it will take something else before they can change that.
All of this will be irrelevant because in ten years they'll be beaming advertisements directly into our brains. I'm not really even kidding, either. In Japan they have Coke or Pepsi vending machines that shoot high-frequency sound waves at your inner ear--it triggers a reaction in your brain that sounds like a pop can opening and pouring over a glass of ice. This only happens when you walk past the machine, people five or six feet away can't hear it. Advertising has invaded every private and public space possible, and it's only going to get worse. Does anyone remember Coca-Cola's plan to build a gigantic screen and shoot it into space? The idea was that you'd look up in the sky during a romantic date or a camping trip or whatever the case may be and there would be a gigantic Coca-Cola sign next to the moon, orbiting around the earth. I'm not kidding about that one either. I could go on about this stuff for a while (I won't, don't worry), I'm a student majoring in communications/polisci right now and we get pretty deep into things like advertising. It's getting out of control, and fast.
Which reminds me, yesterday was Buy Nothing Day. Of course, it's too late for me to really try to push people not to buy anything yesterday but maybe take a day in which you consciously remove yourself from the consumption cycle. It's harder than you might think.
I'm flipping around between games until the Flames come on....the Florida Panthers 2006-2007 SEASON is brought to you by some casino. The shots on goal in the Minnesota/Columbus game are brought to you by some credit card company or hardware store or something. I wonder if we would be denied this information without corporate sponsorship.....: "Well, Terry, I'd like to tell you all about the score in this game, but unfortunately, without a deodorant company to sponsor us, we can't afford to create the scoreboard graphic. So, if you're joining us late, call a friend and ask them if they've been keeping track on their official Wal-Mart NHL scorecard. Buy $60 worth of merchandise at your local Wal-Mart and receive three FREE scorecards so you can keep track at home! Wal-Mart, always low prices. Always."
What a crock!!! I can't effin believe that they've ceeded the naming so fully. I mean it's not just the NHL All Star Game brought to you by Cold-FX or anything as is the current trend (now to the Visa Halftime Report! 
) but they've put the sponsor on EQUAL ground with league and even let their name be first!!!!!!!!! What the Dickens???!?!?!? 
