16901: I See Dead Players.

 

Hyping the Chicago Bulls—currently 13-18 and 14.5 GB—with this “See Red” brand platform creates an unintentionally appropriate fan response.

16873: Overreaction Of The Week.

MediaPost spotlighted a new campaign—#TimeOut Against Hate—designed to combat antisemitism and other forms of hate.

 

The messages involve multiple sports leagues—including the NFL, WNBA, NBA, MLB, MLS, NWSL, NHL, and NASCAR—turning competitive timeouts into national calls against hate.

 

Um, how come Colin Kaepernick taking a knee to call out racial injustice stirred outrage—but this stunt is okay?

 

Robert Kraft’s Antisemitism Group Unveils #TimeOut Against Hate Campaign

 

By Steve McClellan

 

Earlier this year Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) aired an ad in the Super Bowl featuring civil rights leader Clarence B. Jones. The theme of the ad was that the silence of those who know better allows hate to foster and spread.  

 

Now the group has formed an alliance with multiple sports leagues and some well-known coaches, players and personalities – including NFL head coaches Andy Reid and Jim Harbaugh and former NBA great Shaquille O’Neal – for a new campaign that will air during pro and college sports games and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade over the Thanksgiving holiday break and beyond.

 

The new campaign is called #TimeOut Against Hate, aimed at turning the frequently called for pause in sports contests into a national call against hate. 

 

The new ad spot and campaign is the first of its kind in uniting major sports leagues, their commissioners, and star athletes and managers to champion the fight against hate.    

 

The campaign is from WPP’s VML and stemmed from a closed-door meeting with Kraft and major sports commissioners earlier this year as an opportunity for each league and its teams to take a larger, active role in propelling the fight against antisemitism and other forms of hate. Participating leagues in the NFL, WNBA, NBA, MLB, MLS, NWSL, NHL and NASCAR.

 

WPP’s Mindshare is the media partner for this campaign, with media activations including:   

 

# Real-time timeout ads – dynamic streaming placements that are triggered in real-time by timeouts in NFL and college games. When someone calls a timeout in select games, the 30-second spot then starts playing in streaming. These dynamic insertion placements will be in rotation across NFL and NCAA games through December.     

 

# Content partnerships – with content creators and media voices such as three of iHeart’s top sports podcasters (LaVar Arrington, Doug Gottlieb, and Julian Edelman), as well as @dudewithsign on Instagram; the iHeart activations were launched in mid- November.    

 

# Live sports broadcast coverage – the 30-second spot has started playing in various games and leagues across Amazon Prime, ESPN, Fox, NBC, ABC, and will continue over the next few months.

16593: Not The Top Plays In The NBA.

 

The NBA Blacklist… Blacklist? Blacklist?!

16278: NBA Big Stars For Big Pharma.

 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hawks for Bristol Myers Squibb, defending against Atrial Fibrillation. Earvin “Magic” Johnson is a GSK spokesman, raising awareness for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Who’s next? James Worthy on diabetes? Byron Scott with rheumatoid arthritis? A.C. Green hyping hair transplantation? Pat Riley for erectile dysfunction?

 

10650: BHM 2023—Nike.

 

Nike presents Future Movement: Black Well-Being—starring Kevin Durant as well as star athletes and artists. 

 

15979: NBA Signs White Advertising Agency To Play In UK.

 

Campaign reported that the NBA awarded a creative contract to Saatchi & Saatchi London to grow its footprint in the European region. Wonder how NBA players would react upon learning that a White advertising agency is now hyping the league.

 

Granted, the assignment is targeting audiences in Europe. But still. White advertising agencies in the U.K. mirror the same failings with diversity as U.S. counterparts.

 

Did Majority Agency—co-founded by Shaquille O’Neal—get a shot in the pitch competition? Maybe it would have been a conflict of interest, as O’Neal is a professional sports commentator. Or perhaps his experience and expertise would lead to extraordinary concepts.

 

Also, did Goodby Silverstein & Partners whine about the final score?

15909: Bill Russell (1934-2022).

 

RIP Bill Russell.

 

15852: LeBron James Traded To Magic…?

 

Magic Fruity Pebbles—a limited edition breakfast cereal—boasts a mega-promotion featuring Nike and LeBron James. The campaign underscores the lack of diversity in Bedrock. And wouldn’t it have made more sense to use Magic Johnson or an Orlando Magic player?

 

Then again, do professional athletes really eat breakfast cereal that magically turns milk purple? Whatever happened to Wheaties, the Breakfast of Champions?

 

Hey, wait a minute—how many cereals does King James play for?

 

15657: COVID-19 | NBA-0.

A COVID-19 home test endorsed by the NBA? Can’t wait to see Kyrie Irving serving as spokesperson…

15194: NBA Dribbles And Passes Business To New Media And Advertising Shops.

MediaPost reported the NBA named Mediahub and Cartwright as its new media agency and advertising agency, respectively. In keeping with the recent NBA season, both firms likely “won” the business in shootouts with virtual agencies. And Goodby Silverstein & Partners probably cried foul on the appointments.

 

NBA Taps IPG’s Mediahub, WPP’s Cartwright

 

By Steve McClellan

 

The NBA has appointed Mediahub, part of IPG, as its new media agency. Spark Foundry, part of Publicis Media, did not defend the account.

 

The league spent an estimated $82 million on measured media in the U.S. last year, according to Kantar.

 

Separately the league appointed Cartwright, a new WPP-backed agency to lead creative efforts.

14668: Popeyes Big Idea—A Big Box Of Fried Chicken For Big Black People.

Adweek reported Popeyes created a 7-foot-long box of fried chicken—priced at $74.69—to salute new NBA star Zion Williamson. Gee, Annie the Chicken Queen must have went all-out to accomplish such a feat.

Popeyes Made a Near 7-Foot Box of Chicken to Honor NBA Draft Top Pick Zion Williamson’s Wingspan

77 wings, 11 biscuits, 11 servings of fries

By Gabriel Beltrone

Rising basketball star Zion Williamson has a modest wingspan of 6 feet, 10 inches.

So what better way for Popeyes to celebrate him on draft day than an equally-wide box of chicken wings?

On Thursday, for one day at a single location—Canal Street in New Orleans—the Louisiana-founded fast-food chain offered “The Wingspan Box,” packed with 77 boneless wings, 11 biscuits and 11 servings of french fries (in other words, way too much food for a single human to eat at once, no matter how long-armed).

Priced at just $74.69, the box—created by GSD&M—is now, for countless stoned teenagers across the country, the one that got away.

Williamson, for his part, landed that night with the Pelicans—netting the first pick of the draft, as was expected, and confirming that he’s headed for the Big Easy.

So maybe Popeyes will rustle up one more box for the welcome party.

14546: BHM 2019—NBA And Nike Score Points For Black History Month.

The NBA and Nike teamed up to honor Black History Month with warmup shirts described as follows:

During Black History Month, all NBA teams will wear custom Black History Month warmup shirts designed in collaboration with players. This Nike Dri-FIT T-shirt features words selected by players that reflect black history and culture, and our collective commitment to equality and diversity: Activate, Believe, Dream, Empower, Engage, Equality, History Inspire, Justice, Lead, Listen, Love, Perseverance, and Unify. All NBA proceeds will go to the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL.

14397: NBA CMO Pam El Retiring Her Jersey.

Adweek reported NBA CMO Pam El is retiring at the end of the year. Gee, the typical CMO changes teams more often than Chucky Brown.

NBA CMO Pam El Announces Plans to Retire at the End of 2018

She first joined the organization in 2014

By Katie Richards

After a 35-year career in marketing, Pam El has announced she will retire at the end of the year. El currently serves as the evp and CMO of the NBA. Although she will be leaving her role, the NBA noted that El will continue to work with them, serving as an adviser on marketing and branding matters in the future.

El joined the NBA in 2014 after a brief stint at Nationwide. Prior to that she spent 11 years at State Farm where she served as marketing vice president in charge of sales and marketing in the U.S and Canada. During her time at State Farm, El worked closely with the NBA and WNBA to establish a partnership between the two leagues and the insurance company.

“We are grateful for her incredible impact spearheading marketing strategy for all four of our leagues, and we wish her well in retirement after an award-winning career,” NBA deputy commissioner and COO, Mark Tatum, said in a statement.

Some of her other achievements while with the NBA include launching the leauge’s “This Is Why We Play” campaign and the WNBA’s “Watch Me Work” campaign. El also spearheaded a new brand identity for the NBA in a move to get more global recognition for the league.

Throughout her career, El has been recognized for her work in the marketing world. She has received numerous honors from Adweek including, most recently, being honored in the annual Adweek 50 list (for the third consecutive year) for raising the league’s profile in the U.S., but also worldwide.

El noted in a statement that working for the NBA, “has been an amazing privilege,” for her.

“I am particularly proud of the terrific team of marketing experts we’ve assembled globally—truly a skilled group that is among the best in professional sports. With this great team now in place, it’s the right time for me to transition from a full-time position to focus on board opportunities, my non-profit work and spending more time with my family and friends,” she added.

14022: BHM 2018—NBA.

This Black History Month, the NBA spotlights former standout players from HBCUs, as well as Black pioneers in the history of the game. San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich added color commentary too.

13778: Jopwell Job Well Done…?

Adweek reported on Jopwell, a New York-based online careers platform that helps major companies connect with diverse talent. To date, Jopwell has worked with Condé Nast, the NBA, Pinterest, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and BlackRock. Probably not on the Jopwell client roster: any White advertising agencies.

This Startup Is Helping Condé Nast, Pinterest, the NBA and Other Brands Find Diverse Job Candidates

Jopwell helps major companies discover new talent

By Christopher Heine

Jopwell has been around less than two years, but it’s already being used by the likes of Condé Nast, the NBA, Pinterest, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and BlackRock. What’s the draw? Filling a cross-category industry void in helping large companies figure out how to become more diverse—that’s what.

The New York-based online careers platform specializes in helping black, Latino and Native American college students and professionals find new employers. And perhaps more importantly, Jopwell has helped 70-plus major companies find more diverse talent tens of thousands of times in recent months. The service is free for candidates and charges employers an undisclosed fee to recruit from the site.

There’s a dose of smart tech at play, too. Jopwell’s algorithms analyze a candidate’s resume, skills, past experiences and preferences. This allows Jopwell to suss out qualified applicants for hiring managers, who then can have access to them by searching the platform for candidate profiles.

D.A. Abrams, the USTA’s chief diversity officer, lauded the service.

“With so many career opportunities out there, we can only achieve our mission to promote and develop the growth of tennis by reaching out to the best diverse talent,” he said.

Jopwell, which was part of the Y Combinator startups program, has raised $4 million to date. When considering the ad industry’s problems with diverse hiring, it’s easy to see why investors are intrigued by the opportunity Jopwell appears to represent. According to the American Association of Advertising Agencies, 74 percent of 4A’s members surveyed last fall felt agencies were either mediocre or worse when it comes to hiring a diverse group of employees.

And take the example of recent Fashion Institute of Technology graduate Alysia Lewis, who felt the need to pitch her employment availability via Facebook in a provocative way just to get ad companies’ attention. Her promo proclaimed: “Your Agency Hates Black Women.”

“Agencies are very white, but I didn’t mean to tell them, ‘You’re a terrible person,’” Lewis told Adweek senior editor Patrick Coffee. “It’s more of a joke, like, ‘You’re awful, sure, but you’d be 10 percent less awful if you hired me.’”

13558: BHM 2017—NBA Logos.

To celebrate Black History Month, Artist Hebru Brantley redesigned and reimagined all 30 NBA logos.

13366: Insuring Dreams, Ensuring Delusions.

Given the extraordinarily low probability for kids to succeed in professional sports, why is American Family Insurance playing into such high hopes? The company tagline reads, “Insure carefully, dream fearlessly.” But there’s a difference between fearless and reckless.

13061: BHM 2016—NBA.

The NBA appears to be celebrating Black History Month on a team-by-team basis, including individual promotional activities with the Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics. Why, the Sacramento Kings even displayed sensitivity over BHM activities coinciding with the Chinese New Year’s “Year of the Monkey.”

12687: Black Hawks Down.

The Atlanta Hawks were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are now heading to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2007. But don’t be too quick to credit the extraordinary talent of LeBron James for the decisive victory. Rather, put the blame squarely on the Offensive Karma ignited by Hawks owner Bruce Levenson and Hawks general manager Danny Ferry. Thanks to Messrs. Levenson and Ferry, the Hawks couldn’t have beaten LeBron James—or even Kevin James.

12674: Hawks Should Concede Now.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, leaving one to wonder if the Hawks should simply concede the series now. After all, the Offensive Karma sparked by Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson and Hawks general manager Danny Ferry virtually guarantees the team will not win a championship this year. More importantly, nobody wants to watch an NBA Finals featuring the Hawks.