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I hate the new Sportscenter commercials - VIDEO
by Allison Waldman, posted Aug 6th 2008 1:43PM
Have you seen the annoying new ad campaign for the ESPN SportsCenter relaunch? If you watch even a half-hour of ESPN programming -- or like me, Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption -- you can't miss these commercials. There's a young, 20-something guy named Steve running around with a bulky, scoreboard-like digital clock with a strap that hangs around his neck like he's a peanut vendor at a baseball game.
The ads show him going through his day -- working out at the gym, jogging -- while he's waiting for the launch of the new, 9-hour SportsCenter on August 11. The commercials are completely live, which I grant you is novel, but they are not funny, clever or up to the ESPN standard. I hate them. They're jarring, poorly done and, like I said, annoying. I guess some genius in marketing decided that any way to make the viewer remember that a new format is coming is good enough.
Here's a sample of Steve's work (don't say I didn't warn you!):
I'm disappointed in ESPN. This company has consistently done some of the best commercials promoting their programs. They've used athletes in creative ways, making many of them come off really well. Remember LeBron James and the throne? Tony Romo as a receptionist? Hip, hip Jorge? I think they should be commended for those and others that have made me smile or chuckle. Where was that level of creativity for this SportsCenter relaunch?
So, coming August 11 when Hannah Storm, Steve Berthiaume, Linda Cohn, Josh Elliott, Robert Flores and Chris McKendry begin the live daytime SportsCenters, delivering nine -- yeah, nine -- continuous hours of highlights, news and recaps, I'll likely check it out if I need a score or want to know if Brett Favre is still all they're talking about. But the memory of Steve's lame promos will hang like a bad stink for a long time to come.
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