All posts in Athletes Who Advertise

Mayweather Clocks Ortiz, Fights With Elderly Commentator, Has No Manners Whatsoever

By | September 18, 2011 | Athletes Who Advertise, Boxing | 2 Comments

Floyd Mayweather angered almost all people with an opinion about boxing last night by clocking Victor Ortiz and winning with a fourth-round knockout that was widely considered a sucker punch.

Turns out, Ortiz had head-butted Mayweather, and felt badly about it. So he leaned in “for a hug” and an apology.

I don’t think I understand boxing. He couldn’t just be all “Hey, sorry” and kept bobbing and weaving? I’m familiar with the awkward, hug-like grappling that they tend to do while fighting, but hugging it out over a transgression during a fight just seems like it would ruin the “I’m going to beat your ass six ways from Sunday” vibe. Hm.

Anyway, while Ortiz apologized, Mayweather took the opportunity to haul off and punch him in the head, taking him down, and winning the fight.

“Cheap shot!” everyone on Twitter yelled who suddenly cared about boxing, while Mayweather busied himself insulting and appearing to physically intimidate Larry Merchant, 80, who has been a boxing commentator since Jimmy Carter was president.

Blahblahblah, you suck, Larry Merchant, Mayweather raged. He never gives him a fair shake. Doesn’t know anything about boxing, and need to be fired and etc. Larry kind of giggled and said the following:

“I wish I was 50 years younger and I would kick your ass.”

This is what Merchant looked like right before he delivered that golden line.

I guess after you sucker punch a guy who’s hugging you and apologizing for head-butting you, going off on an 80-year-old man is the next logical step.

I Still Love SportsCenter Commercials

By | January 7, 2011 | Athletes Who Advertise, Funny | 1 Comment

Have you seen the new SportsCenter ad that features Alexander Ovechkin?

The most suspicious part is that they are in full gear.

I have been watching this commercial a lot because 1) It is funny, 2) I’m a Caps fan and 3) It is all over the place and it has got me thinking about how much I have always loved SportsCenter spots. They have been consistently hilarious for at least 15 years.

Here are a couple old ones for your viewing pleasure.

This one is old, but it still applies.

Tiger loses Gillette; Influence Drops; Hordes Cheer

By | December 27, 2010 | Athletes Who Advertise, Celebrity Athletes, Golf | 2 Comments

… or maybe not HORDES, but at least me.

I don’t know I care, as it has zero bearing on his ability as an athlete, but, as I’ve discussed many times before, Tiger made a living selling his image as a clean-cut family man, not just as an athlete, so with every endorsement he loses, I cheer a little inside. And outside. And then I discuss it with everyone I know, even though no one cares as much as I do.

He’s already lost Accenture, Gatorade, AT&T and others, and his endorsement earnings were down $22M year over year, but now — yeehaw! — Gillette is the latest sponsor to tell him to hit the road. And after all, he still has Nike.

2009 wasn’t exactly a spectacular year for our fine golfing friend, and I would say that it’s relatively rare for athletes to truly reap the consequences of their actions — after all, $22M down, the dude is still left with $70M, and that’s just for ONE YEAR. And yet, you have to wonder (hope?) if others will follow suit.

Tiger Woods on his knees

Jonna is stoked that the Patriots clinched home field advantage and remains as riveted by Tiger (and Elin) as ever.

Sports and War: Not the Same Thing

By | November 10, 2010 | Athletes Who Advertise, Celebrity Athletes, Football, NBA | 1 Comment

Image problems and the NBA go together like ES and PN so you would think a guy like Kobe Bryant, ambassador for the After-School All-Stars, might think twice before starring in the commercial for the Call of Duty Black Ops video game. Media outlets are taking notice and I hope the league will follow suit.

I don’t keep up with current first person shooter games, or any video games, so the ad for Call of Duty was a shock to me. It shows mostly regular people, with the exception of Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmel, walking around, answering their phones, doing regular things, except they are carrying and firing assault rifles and grenade launchers.

They could be your next door neighbor, your doctor, your mechanic. If you take out the shooting and explosions, it’s sort of calm, with the Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter in the background.

I read one piece that says the ad was set to debut during Sunday Night Football, but it didn’t. My son saw it during one of the afternoon games. My five year old son. I am not opposed to watching stuff blow up, and I go to my share of action movies, but I don’t take my kids to them.

I’ve been arguing with my husband for a DVR for years, dating back to before the kids came along. Though the ability to watch TV on our own schedule is attractive, my main argument lately is the desire to cut out the commercials. When Oliver was 3 and demanding to watch SportsCenter on ESPN every morning, I was happy to get MLB at Bat and hand over my iPhone and later my iPad so he could check baseball highlights without the deluge of inappropriate commercials.

Beer, women in spandex (and less), violent TV dramas, five dollar foot longs. He finds them all captivating, but none so much as the Call of Duty ad.

Oliver seemed stunned as he watched it, and I think he could see it was bothering me. He said something like, “Shooting is bad, right?” but I was too stunned to remember his exact words. I remember feeling a little bit relieved that his first reaction was to think shooting = bad, but my head was still spinning with worry about what was going on in his head.

I’d rather my kids saw a few wardrobe malfunctions than this level of violence. Naked body parts are explainable and natural. If a video game is rated M for Mature or the TV show carries a “view discretion advised” label, the ads need to be toned way down if they are going to air when young children are likely to see them.

Despite Charles Barkley declaring he’s not a role model, athletes still impact kids in perhaps unintended ways. Kobe Bryant is smart enough to know better.

ClumberKim published an earlier version of this on her personal blog.

Troy Polamalu’s Hair is Worth $1 Million

By | August 31, 2010 | Athletes Who Advertise, Crazy People, Football | 5 Comments

Don’t drop Troy Polamalu’s hair. It is worth a million dollars.
TroyPolamalu
No, really. Head & Shoulders has insured Polamalu’s curly locks for a cool million.

This is almost as stupid as J-Lo insuring her butt.

How does one collect on this? If Troy gets a bad haircut can he collect? Is it only in case of fire? Is Delilah a pressing threat?

I’m thinking that Head & Shoulders just bought itself  $1 million worth of advertising on AM radio talk shows, Sportscenter and blogs like Draft Day Suit.

Very sneaky.

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Holy crap! Troy and I are on the same wavelength. He also referenced Jennifer Lopez’s ass.

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Sarah was also asking with her eyes.

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