26 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

A series of TV commercials and print ads will be released next week. The TV spots will be packaged in a five-part story, the first of which depicts a hockey player preparing for a game with the backdrop of a mythical temple, like a Samurai warrior getting ready for battle.

Other spots then progress into players facing off head to head and giving fans an ice-level view of the game. The last commercial culminates with a celebration of the fans and the game, with a glimpse of the Stanley Cup.

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[SacredCow]

To see the presentation the NHL made, click here!

[THE Mighty Duck Man 84]

great idea ... i cant wait to start seeing them ... thanks SC

[HockeyDame]

Great idea! I'm happy to see the NHL putting more effort into promoting hockey.

[socalcustoms]

It seems a little generic.... like the "actor" dude with the rough and tough look?

Maybe each team will have a more personalized commercial after the season starts.

[jojo983]

cool

[HockeyDame]

Looks like there is already a complaint about the ads.

Martha Burk, the chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, said she intends to write letters of protest to the league and to U.S. television network NBC over the NHL's advertising campaign, which is set to debut next week.

The ad, which was unveiled Wednesday night during an event for the league's corporate partners, opens with a quote from a Chinese military philosopher. It shows a hockey player being dressed in his equipment by his female partner and ends with him walking to the ice. A young boy is shown cheering before the ad ends with the tagline My NHL.

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[Tomato Assasin]

Great idea! I'm happy to see the NHL putting more effort into promoting hockey.

Yeah its good that they are putting in more effort but i personally think it sucks, they should have done something more like oln season trailer. We want to watch nhl not some random version of it, and each team's advertisement should include at least a few of their own clips in it. They should have got nhl players to direct it! How about brennan and fedoruk? lol

[Francaise]

Has anyone seen the one with the goalie masked hockey player outside the window looking in, with a female inside? I haven't seen it, so I don't know all the details.

[DropThePuck]

Despite objections from Martha Burk, NBC said it was going ahead with plans to air an NHL commercial showing a bare-chested player being dressed by a scantily clad woman.

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[HockeyDame]

Controversy (sp?) sells. And... looks like the NHL is trying to go all out by airing it on Comedy Central, MTV, and VH1.

[SacredCow]

The ads are for non-NHL fans, and I think they are very well done. They are memorable, they are nice to look at and they are unique. The Martha Burk protest rings hollow because you could say the guy is being used as a sex object as well. He's a good looking guy with his shirt off in a candle lit room. Obviously, that's going to get the ladies attention, and that's the point. Under all those pads are some good looking men, ladies! Watch the NHL!

As someone that works in television marketing, I think the ads are great.

[hockey2k]

Has anyone seen the one with the goalie masked hockey player outside the window looking in, with a female inside?  I haven't seen it, so I don't know all the details.

Are you sure that wasn't an ad for a horror flick?

Personally I think the first ad is embarrassingly cheesy. How does this "ancient warrior" stuff show the fans relationship to the game? How does making the hockey player some mythical hero bring fans closer to the players? Makes it feel more inaccessable and elite to me. If that's what they consider getting inside "how the players live and think," then many players must be suffering serious delusions. After all the things the ad agency guys said, I was very disappointed.

That being said, it looks like the spots will get better from there. The action shots look like they were very well done.

[Ducksrule08]

they seem a kind of over the top, but I don't really care i'm still a fan and the geme is more important to me than whats on tv

[MrsBevo]

Sports, in general, is pretty sexist in general. Football - all male. Hockey - all male. Baseball - all male. NBA - primarily male, although there is the WNBA. And the reality is that more men than women watch sports. Therefore, they will be marketing to the main viewing audience. I fully expect to see ads for beer and cars when I watch hockey. I don't expect to see ads for tampons and dish liquid and baby diapers. You market to the main audience's gender and age range. This is also why you find the ads for hair transplants, impotence drugs, and exotic dance clubs in the Sports section. Macy's advertises in a different section. Until women become the primary viewing audience, the focus isn't going to change.

[Dark Knight]

Thank you MrsB. That's unfortunate but objective and true.

[LUPUL15]

This is a great idea

[fedorov-fan91]

I saw the commercial today, and I was just happy to see anything NHL related on TV. And I'm surprised people like Martha Burk have time in their busy schedule to criticize a commercial.

[PortBeach13]

Same here, saw it too! Looked awesome.

[DropThePuck]

Though NHL players seem to have accepted the campaign with good grace, King forward Jeremy Roenick had another reaction.

"At some point you see what something really is," he said. "I'll go on TV wearing a thong. More women will get interested and I'll guarantee you no man is gonna sue."

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[HockeyDame]

Speaking of NHL commercials... anybody saw the Ducks commercial featuring the Niedermayers?

Two brothers. One team. (and I forgot the rest. I only caught it once.)

[Dark Knight]

Though NHL players seem to have accepted the campaign with good grace, King forward Jeremy Roenick had another reaction.

"At some point you see what something really is," he said. "I'll go on TV wearing a thong. More women will get interested and I'll guarantee you no man is gonna sue."

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<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for that image; I'm blind now!

[hockey2k]

I like the OLN "We Believe in Hockey" commercial much better.

JR in a thong? I would run screaming!

[HockeyDame]

Gross. I do not want to see Jeremy Roenick in a thong. God... pleeease!

[LUPUL15]

Same here, saw it too!  Looked awesome.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup it was cool