Cheesiest product placement ever
Okay, it was nice of the FAN 590 and Rogers Sportsnet to commemorate Mexican independence day this afternoon, but boy was this one cheesy excuse for a product placement.
Prime Time Sports opened its simulcast with a mariachi trio, which did its part for international relations, at least until Sportsnet's cameras left them to focus on a bunch of taco fixings obviously supplied by the same company that hired the band. Between shots of host Bob McCown and sidekick Jim Kelley, viewers on Rogers Sportsnet were subjected to closeups of tacos, beef, cheese and lettuce. Prime time, indeed.
At least McCown and Kelly had the decency to avoid chowing down on the air.
amen brother - THAT was just cra$$ of the worst kind.
Posted by: krister | 05/05/2009 at 07:10 PM
This one is bad.............but it's not as bad as the Subway sandwiches that show up (along with that Jared guy) on the NFL pre-game show on CBS each year
Posted by: Mike S | 05/05/2009 at 07:30 PM
C'mon Zelko. Lighten up! The band was fun (and I thought they were pretty good too). As for product placement...there was no deal. Old El Paso isn't a sponsor on the Fan, but knew that I had "adopted" Cinquo de Mayo as "The Official Holiday of PTS"...whatever that means. They called and offered to bring in the band, feed the entire staff and have a few laughs. I thought it would be a good idea and I can assure you that a whole bunch of people who never get on the air, never get any "freebees" and often go unnoticed, filled their faces and appreciated the gesture. I can only assume that your true motive for the above backhanded swipe is jealousy...cause I know that the Star never lets you "keyboard jockeys" take anything for free.
P.S. Remind me and next year I'll invite you over on May 5th for some grub.
Bob McCown
BLOGGER'S REPLY:
Hey Bob,
This is the problem when you blog on an empty stomach. In fact, my blood sugar was so low I called Cinco de Mayo independence day. My real beef was with the director, who kept focusing on the box of tacos as if it were a guest. The rest was fine, as usual. By the way, what time should I arrive next May 5?
Chris Zelkovich
Posted by: Bob McCown | 05/05/2009 at 11:11 PM
"Mexican independence day"? Ugh. As a Canadian living in Mexico for the past three years, I knew Americans were ignorant about Cinco de Mayo, but I didn't know it extended to Canadians too.
Mexico's independence day is on Sept. 16, which is the day they became independent from Spain. Cinco de Mayo (May 5) is nothing more than the date that Mexico won a battle against France in the city of Puebla. The date is celebrated in Puebla, but in the rest of the country, it's barely recognized, let alone celebrated. It's funny that Americans make such a big deal out of it, and even funnier that now Canadians are too. Nothing wrong with celebrating, just know what you're celebrating.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and prepare for my celebration in a couple of weeks of May 2-4, Canada's birthday.
Posted by: Dan Delaney | 05/06/2009 at 11:26 AM
I thought we had a Bob McCown impersonator , but apparantly he's the real thing! I guess its a sign that your blog has hit the big time!
That being said, the director had to have been angling for a little ad deal here! Come on!
Posted by: Clarkie 90210 | 05/06/2009 at 03:10 PM