This is the text to an introduction I gave in LA on Monday at the Next Big Idea Conference. I was the moderator of a panel on the future of branded content. My intro was topical then. It may be stale as a day old taco now but I was curious if any of you found the Taco Bell/World Series product placement as tasteless as I did.
So there I was Thursday (10/25) night, suffering through the
Sox-Rockies game when Fox cut to a recording of a couple of Red Sox
players, including that living product placement Coco Crisp, talking
about stealing bases. One of the players said to the other, “you
know if you steal a base everyone in America gets a free Taco Bell
taco.” They talked for about 40 seconds about free tacos.
Yikes! This was in the middle of a ball game–a World Series game.
Not the ad middle but the game middle. Then they showed the player
(a rookie named Jacoby Ellsbury) stealing. Then they cut to an
interview with the CMO of Taco Bell who had a grin as big as a taco
grande. He was beside himself with joy…and no wonder. The Fox guys
were lathering him with salsa noting how they too were “thinking
outside the bun.” And listen to what Joe Buck and Tim McCarver said
to each other in the bottom of the sixth on Wednesday night:
“No stolen bases yet in the game,” McCarver said, as David Ortiz
batted. “No free tacos for America,” Buck said. “At some point
it’s going to happen.”
On Saturday (10/27), the New York Times covered
the ‘taco incident’ as did many other media outlets. Here’s what the
Times reporter said:
I’ve rarely seen a sponsor so overtly and shamelessly integrated
into a game, which is great news for those who love what Taco
Bell is giving away: crunchy seasoned beef tacos.
Taco Bell was smart enough to devise a campaign called “Steal A
Base, Steal A Taco,” in which the first stolen base in the World
Series would let anyone walk into any of its outlets Tuesday
from 2 to 5 p.m. (no time zones specified) and get a free taco.
Nielsen Buzz Metrics Blog Pulse noted that blog mentions of Taco
Bell increased 33% in the 24 hours after the swipe. Today
(10/29/08), Ad Age reported
that the value of this product placement was a steal. Keep in mind
that Taco Bell spent $5.6 million in ad time to get this “free”
product placement. However, unlike most of the 20,000 or so
primetime placements in the last 9 months, this particular placement
stole the show.
Perhaps the only ones feeling ripped off are the fans who can now
expect even more in-game hijackings by hungry advertisers. Clearly
there is a lot of food for thought in this field of product
placement so let’s meet our panelists and get right at it…
What I didn’t say on Monday is that as a baseball fan I found the whole thing repugnant. I think it debased the game and the players involved. I don’t want hear players talking about tacos during a World Series game. I want to hear them talk about the game–THE WORLD SERIES FOR HEAVENS SAKE. I can’t believe that a manager of a World Series team would want his players talking about tacos (but then again the Rockies played so poorly maybe the Sox players didn’t need to pay attention.)
I have no doubt that the Taco Bell team believes this was a huge victory. They managed to insert their promotion right into the middle of several game broadcasts–something that had previously been reserved for commentary about the game. Call me old school but I was saddened by this breach of the line between content and commercial. I was annoyed as a baseball fan and embarrassed as a marketer. I guess you can say it just didn’t ring my bell. You?