I started with a rational argument about this. I looked at EULAs, I discussed how advertising has invaded and permeated sports coverage. But in the end, my new copy of Madden 10 is still downloading goddamn ads on my dime!
I wasn't too surprised when my new copy of Madden, the biggest selling games franchise of all time (RRP $120.00), came filled with advertisements for Snickers ("are you ready for the Chompetition?").
But I did find myself slightly alarmed when my game started showing me in-game ads for the new McDonalds burger. Who thought this was a good idea?
For those three or four of you who are interested, Madden is as good as ever (apart from the ads).
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I was feeling a might low yesterday so I went looking at uniforms to cheer me up, Stade Francais never lets me down. This one reminds me of those Mambo "Loud Shirts", whereas this one I'm told should come with a free one of these.
Now contrast those rather gaudy outfits with the cool efficiency of Germany's new World Cup strip. I know football uniforms are basically a t-shirt, but it still looks cool.
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Speaking of (ahem) uniforms, next week is not only the start of the NFL season (yippee!) it's the start of the Lingerie Football League (do I really need to tell you that the link might be NSFW?). Possibly the only sport where the uniform is in the name.
You may have heard about this a while ago. There was once an event called the Lingerie Bowl that was broadcast (probably on cable) during the halftime show of the Superbowl. The premise is that two teams of aesthetically pleasing women play American football wearing, pads, helmets and lingerie. Naturally this concept bombed.
It bombed because the folks who want to watch women wrestle for a football would rather they weren't wearing any clothes and occasionally paused to kiss (then again [possibly NSFW]). And the folks who like sport wanted to see real athletes (then again). I have watched a Lingerie Bowl (strictly for research you understand) and found it dull in the extreme.
So after two years with no Lingerie Football at all, 2009 saw a comeback. And I believe it can all be put down to a fantastic media strategy, one that involved many mainstream media outlets.
The league expanded the number of teams, and then to fill the rosters they held public try-outs. The try-outs were open to media and photographers and camera men flocked to what was marketed as "quirky sports" piece. The same footage was screened on numerous blogs and television news programmes (including TVNZ) at the end of the sports section usually introed with a grin and "…and if you thought you'd seen everything in sport…" style joke and followed with one of those crappy sports presenter style misogynist banter things.
This was repeated when the players were invited on morning television shows like Fox & Friends.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Fox & Friends' Lingerie Football Romp | ||||
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So now, just by being "quirky" instead of being "sexy" T&A is shown on national television and interest in the league grows.
The next step is probably going to be to try and get the hipster demographic who go to burlesque because it's cool and not to look at the ladies taking their clothes off.