Ramblings' Journal

I'm all for marketing, but this is just plain going overboard

Major League Baseball and Sony Pictures are teaming up on a new kind of promotion.

Bases at 15 ballparks around the nation will be stamped with an ad promoting the upcoming motion picture Spider-Man 2 the weekend of June 11-13.

The image, as seen here, will adorn bases in all the MLB parks where games are taking place that weekend. Spider-Man logos and designs will also adorn pitchers' mounds and on deck circles at the ballparks.

"This is the perfect alliance between two quintessential national pastimes -- baseball and movie-going," said Geoffrey Ammer, president of worldwide marketing for the Colombia TriStar Motion Picture Group. "This partnership celebrates superheroes, whether they are on the field or on the big screen and we are extremely excited about the opportunity to create this unique promotion with Major League Baseball."

"Over the past year and a half, we've been doing substantive research to determine the best ways to market the game into the 21st century, and we have overwhelming evidence that we have a property that's . . . never been stronger," said Jacqueline Parkes, senior vice president of advertising and marketing for MLB. "One thing that came out of the research is that we have a huge opportunity with kids, to bring them into the game. We needed to engage them in relevant and meaningful ways.

Most people have become used to the advertising on the outfield walls and behind home plate, but this seems to be a step beyond where advertisers should go.

What's next? Team logos on baseball uniforms, along the lines of what you get from NASCAR uniforms and cars?

Posted by mhking at May 5, 2004 10:45 PM