06-25-2003, 07:11 PM
Take a look. What is with all this corporate sponsorchip lately? I fear that my kids will grow up calling the Wrigley Field, Sanford Park. They will never know that US Cellualr Field was once called Comiskey Park. So instead of selling the names of Soldiers Field, the Bears whored themselves to BankOne. I used to work at BankOne (it's not what you know, but who you know...sometimes helps), and I met a lot of good people there and had a great time. But I disagree with a lot of their current moves, like this one.
The Chicago Bears Presented by BankOne Corp.? BankOne Ballpark in Arizona? There are countless other parks, arenas, and stadiums that have been branded, and countless that still "need" to be. Corporate branding, I think, has gotten out of hand, as Mr. Sheridan points out in his article. Even the black paint under a football player's eyes now comes with corporate decals.
High school sports teams and the high schools themselves can't escape branding. Remember all the Gatorade or Powerade drink coolers the team had? Coaching camps were sponsored by these companies. In Colorado, a number of schools have Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or McDonalds all over the walls and cafeterias, and schools in other states are continuing the trend. In a book titled Fast Food Nation, the author discusses how various food companiesare trying to get there names on everything. How they want to get product loyalty and control every aspect of a person's eating choices from cradle to grave.
I fear that it will be absolutely impossible to escape corporate branding and sponsorships, but it is possible to limit your exposure.
(that feels better)
The Chicago Bears Presented by BankOne Corp.? BankOne Ballpark in Arizona? There are countless other parks, arenas, and stadiums that have been branded, and countless that still "need" to be. Corporate branding, I think, has gotten out of hand, as Mr. Sheridan points out in his article. Even the black paint under a football player's eyes now comes with corporate decals.
High school sports teams and the high schools themselves can't escape branding. Remember all the Gatorade or Powerade drink coolers the team had? Coaching camps were sponsored by these companies. In Colorado, a number of schools have Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or McDonalds all over the walls and cafeterias, and schools in other states are continuing the trend. In a book titled Fast Food Nation, the author discusses how various food companiesare trying to get there names on everything. How they want to get product loyalty and control every aspect of a person's eating choices from cradle to grave.
I fear that it will be absolutely impossible to escape corporate branding and sponsorships, but it is possible to limit your exposure.
(that feels better)
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation - Henry David Thoreau
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and at the rate I'm going, I'm going to be invincible.
Chicago wargaming club
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and at the rate I'm going, I'm going to be invincible.
Chicago wargaming club