Nonsense: The official [...] of the [...]

No picture today. No video either. Just words. While watching the revamped Knicks with Amar'e and Melo win yet another game of hoops, it dawned on me: all this offical xyz of the so and so is a complete game of bs.

Think about it. You are watching tall, muscular, sweaty, and heavily overpaid men throwing a ball into a basket. Many of them make millions of dollars a year, and even the ones at the lower end of the NBA food chain take home about $400K a year.

And you - dear Mr. or Mrs. Marketing or Advertising Director - want us to believe that the Kia Optima is 'the official vehicle of the NBA'? WTF? Are you serious? What does that even mean? That every player in the NBA drives a Kia Optima? That's ridiculous. That everyone officially involved in a NBA game is being driven around in one? That's even more ridiculous. So what does it even mean? Nothing, to be precise.

What it means is that the NBA marketing team sends out presentation decks to media agencies and ad agencies, offering companies to be 'The official [...] of the NBA'. Which basically is a bunch of bs. Because it is meaningless. All you get is to have the above line attached to everything NBA. It only gets you exposure, nothing else. No inherent, meaningful message that reaches the consumer. No benefit. Nothing. It is actually quite ridiculous. Imagine for a moment the following messages on your TV screen:

'Black & Decker - the official tool of the NBA' - To repair leaking roofs or what?

'Charmin - the official toilet paper of the NBA' - How funny is that?

'Tampax - the official tampon of the WNBA' - Can it be more absurd?

So what does 'the official car/vehicle of the NBA' exactly do? I don't know. Because they don't tell us. Why exactly are they 'the official car/vehicle of the NBA'? Because they paid a ridiculous amount of money to the NBA to be allowed to say so. And that's it.

It's kinda like you are going to an interview, telling your potential new employer: 'I am the best for this job." Problem is: before he/she can ask you why, you walk away. And that is just stupid.

Signed:
The Mad Ad Man - the unofficial ad critic of the NBA.