Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Creepy, or cool?
Andrew Sullivan thinks this ad promoting American football in Germany is "cool." Maybe, but I suspect that most Americans would regard it as more creepy than cool. That it was developed by Germans to appeal to Germans says a lot about, well, Germans.
6 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Sep 15, 07:12:00 AM:
Probably because of its homoerotic overtones. What he really wants is to see them in leather uniforms.
By 
Andrewdb, at
Tue Sep 15, 10:09:00 AM:
Seems it would go over better with BRITISH football fans.
By Kurt, at
Tue Sep 15, 02:02:00 PM:
Ick! That's most unappealing--and "creepy" doesn't do it justice.
By , at
Tue Sep 15, 03:13:00 PM:
This reminds me of ads that do not cross borders well.
What the ad says about Andrew Sullivan and Germans is not worth repeating. Such an ad would BOMB in the US. If it does well in Germany, it shows there are distinct differences between Germany and the US.
At least the ad didn't involve a horde of planes descending on Manhattan.
For annoying ads that furriners make about the US, I am reminded of the Absolut Vodka ad from last year.
For all the brouhaha about Amis being culturally insensitive etc., it seems that the “culturally sensitive” furriners who make up ads have a way of pissing off us Amis.
One of the outstanding examples of a culturally blind ad campaign involved GM marketing the Chevy Nova in Mexico, which was blissfully aware that “No va” means “It doesn’t go” in Spanish.
Are ad men all such dolts?
By , at
Wed Sep 16, 06:55:00 AM:
What I notice is how puny the arm actually is. That looks like a well muscled soccer player's arm...not a football player's arm. It is no where near even a wide receivers arm, never mind a back/lineback or a linemans arm.
I think it would be a good ad campaign to have an event (not actually compete, each would dominate in their own sport, with many injuries on the other side) with an NFL team with a national rugby team. I think it would genuinely SHOCK Euros how much physically bigger American football players are compared to Rugby. Seeing them mingle might pique a few Euros interest in seeing the Ami goliaths do battle.
By Bobby Nations, at
Thu Sep 17, 12:47:00 AM:
South Africa did a funny commercial with their Rugby and Soccer teams just after winning the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVvn3bJ_LRE&feature=PlayList&p=EAD6F54DE8028B5D&index=3
Modern rugby players are approaching NFL size pretty quickly now that they are paid to play. It has given them the resources to train properly (read, lift lots and eat correctly). Of course, the NFL guys will always be able to carry lots more weight b/c they run so much less during the course of the game and get to take so many breaks. Even the fatties like props and hookers now have pretty low BMI scores at the elite and internation level.
Oh, and the original add is creepy, and the models arm looks almost feminine.
