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If you are able to get the obscure cable channel Bettman thinks will be the saviour of the “New” NHL, then you probably saw his idea of how the league should be advertised. Promoting the coming playoffs Bettman’s marketing idiots have spliced together clips from the movie “300″ with clips of hard-hitting hockey. To associate our beloved sport with a movie that depicts beheadings and spurting blood throughout is, IMHO, a very bad idea. Hockey’s only other national advertisement for the past week or so has been the over-and-over replay of the Simon stick-swinging incident which is then coupled to the Tuz’s bone-headed play on Moore, and then McSorely…you get the idea. Now Bloody Bettman follows that up with an ad that promotes more violence. Hey, don’t get me wrong, I love it when they drop the gloves or there’s a good CLEAN hard check, but associating hockey with the ultra-extreme violence of this movie just ain’t smart. We have plenty of NHL highlight plays and foot-stompin’ tunes that would promote the NHL in a much better fan-growing light than what our idiot commissioner and his immature marketing boys are doing. I thought the idea was to tone down the ultra-violence? What are the younger fans and players to think about how the game should be played when they see this commercial and the movie? Stupid, Gary, plain stupid.
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I thought the exact same thing when I saw that ad.
As someone who works in the Advertising industry and understands how hard it is to get companies to take a risk when it comes to associating their brand with just about anything, I can’t believe the folks in the NHL marketing department looked at that and thought “Awesome! This completely embodies our brand message!”
Maybe they just need to hire some women to counterbalance all the immaturity.
I find it an odd combination as well. I stopped watching hockey in the year before the lockout when Bettman would just shake his head saying there wouldn’t be a season next year. And that was in the fall of the season before the lockout. Anyway I thought the “new” NHL pretty much outlawed any sort of physical play, it just makes this ad even more bizarre. Oh well maybe when they stop changing the rules and make some changes back more people like me will watch on TV again. I don’t even know which channel Versus is anyway.
PO’d in Philly-
Ya gotta look for the channel that has bull-riding, lady kick-boxin’, and deer killin’. You know, professional sports closely related to hockey. Then wait until Monday or Tuesday nite when you’re ready to go to bed to get up for work the next mornin and turn on the game; the only game for that week.
Jeeez, I’m sure we’ll hear a loud pop when Bettman takes his head out of his arse!
Today we will be watching the Dallas Stars while making a bunt cake!
If the league was really interested in “saving” the sport and drawing in new fans then it would stop changing the rules and try to promote the sport. The commissoner has done nothing but put the games on networks that a majority of the country does not get. Yet the NFL puts its games on T.V. channels that everybody gets. Even the NBA and MLB do better at promoting their sports then does the NHL. If the NHL wants to draw in a better and bigger fan base they would do themselves a world of good by taking a page from the NFL. Seeing how the NFL with the shortest season is watched more than all the major leagues.