Crass Commercialization

You ever stop and wonder why the NFL purposely uses a specially inflated kicking ball on kickoffs that travels much farther than the normal playing ball? And why the NFL has the ball placed on the 35 yard line for the kickoff, almost guaranteeing that the ball will go out of the end zone and be a touchback? It’s so the people who televise the games can run some more commercials. Commercials, commercials and more commercials.

Think of it. TV has just run a commercial after the touchdown or the field goal. The special teams players all trot onto the field to either receive or defend on the kickoff. But, everyone knows that the average ball on a kickoff lands approximately nine to twelve yards PAST the goal line (it almost ALWAYS goes into the end zone) That means the AVERAGE kicked ball flies OUT of the end zone for a guaranteed touchback. Which means nary a single second runs off the game clock, which allows the network to run, you guessed it, still another batch of commercials.

Unfortunately, when fans watch football, most of the actual 60 minutes of playing time is spent in and out of huddles and standing around in between plays. The actual action is usually only about one tenth of that 60 minutes. Everyone talks about the commercials that run during the Super Bowl. They also run these babies during regular season games.

Football telecasts are a lot about hearing announcers talking about football. And, of course, they are an excuse to run commercials. Some might say that telecasts are designed around the idea of running as many commercials as possible.

Here are some of the things you watched while you thought you were just watching the football action at tonight’s opening game of the season between the Patriots and the Steelers.

You saw commercials about gambling sites. Specifically, DraftKings.com and FanDuel.com. These are GAMBLING sites. People put up large chunks of money for a chance to pick a “winning fantasy team” for that week and win HUGE amounts of money. And of course that means a whole lot of people are LOSING money gambling on their fantasy teams. Note the word gambling. The NFL, which makes such a big deal about being against gambling, is allowing fantasy gambling because they can get away with a loophole that calls fantasy football gambling GAMING. You’ve got to love the NFL.

You saw a Subway commercial. I’ve been away for awhile. Where exactly was that guy Jared? Oh, you say he was replaced as their spokesperson? Because he had ties to organized PORN? But Subway told us he was a great, wholesome guy, a man who we should listen to for ideas on how exactly we were supposed to live our lives. Now he’s gone?

Lots of car commercials – Ford, Chevy, Hyundai, Audi, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen ran commercials during the telecast. Does anybody remember ANY of the cars that were shown? I do because I was keeping track tonight. Doesn’t it seem like the models all just kind of run together and look like the exact same car or SUV? Is anyone seeing the correlation between all of the millions and millions of dollars being spent on auto advertising and the HIGH prices of these same cars new? I wonder how much money was spent on these exact commercials tonight. I wonder how many cars were sold because of these commercials. I’m thinking they are just wasting their money.

You saw the great smart phone battle in full swing. Apple vs. Samsung. There are a LOT of these exact same commercials making the exact same point but I guess these brands are ones people remember. The same with the AT&T, Sprint and Verizon phone plans and networks. They are what is happening right now, so I guess their commercials are not a waste of money.

Of course, DIRECT TV did some commercials trying to sell their satellite TV packages, mainly their NFL package. These commercials are smart, cute and probably effective. Their prices are too high though.

Of course, NBC, which broadcast the game, used their time to run commercials promoting some of THEIR NBC TV shows like “The Blacklist,” “The Tonight Show,” “Law and Order,” their new show “Blindspot,” and of course, this Sunday’s upcoming game between the Cowboys and the Giants.

Prudential investments had a commercial. There was one for Microsoft Windows 10. These companies are trying to reach the large audience that pro football brings. Do any of the viewers remember any of these commercials?

McDonald’s did a bunch of spots talking about their new chicken sandwich, their new coffee products and I forget which other Mc product was being shown. I for one think they should sell McNachos.

Pro football is a great place for Hollywood to push their new movie releases on. Or the ones coming out on Blu-Ray DVD’s. You see a movie ad on Thursday night, you go see that movie on Friday night. That’s smart thinking. Do you think the movie people helped influence the idea of televising Thursday night football games? Tonight, there was a commercial starring Johnny Depp as mobster Whitey Bulger. Has Johnny Depp had any recent successes besides him playing a pirate? I can’t think of any.

Papa Johns did some pizza commercials with Peyton Manning. Manning owns a whole bunch of Papa John’s franchises. He also did a commercial about his Nationwide Insurance. Nationwide is on his side and so is Papa John. He will do well in commercials AFTER he quits the game. I wonder if Tom Brady will do toothpaste commercials when he retires?

There was the customary Geico commercial during the game. There’s a Geico commercial at EVERY game that is ever played anymore. Didn’t see Flo tonight and her commercials. I guess they don’t think the football audience is worth advertising to. Has anyone else thought about the fact that all these insurance companies must be spending BILLIONS of dollars on TV ads and how exactly are they going to have enough money to pay off their claims?

The main point of all this is to acknowledge that we might think these telecasts are all about the game. The league and the broadcast networks think it’s all about the money they make selling the commercials. That is all.

By the way, the Patriots defeated the Steelers 28 to 21. No word in yet as to who won the most money gambling on Draft Kings and Fan Duel.