OK, I admit this is a very specific complaint... but I need to get it off my chest.
I love MLB.com and I watch a lot of the highlights of the day on there. And often times I will turn to the GameDay page and watch a bunch of clips in a row.
And they have ads inbetween the clips. And I'm OK with that. They need to pay the bills.
But here's the problem. At least the last few weeks, they've been showing an ad for CitiBank Rewards points where a guy uses his rewards points to get a weather balloon.
So the ad has a little guitar riff and and announcer says "What can you do with CitiPoints?"
The main character starts to blow up a weather balloon with his racially balanced group of friends on top of a hill.
One asks "You got a weather balloon with points?" As if he didn't know that. As if they just randomly drove up a hill with a gigantic airtank and equipment and he never asked "Where are we going."
The main character says "Yes I did" and they let the balloon go. Now we don't get to see the cool footage from the weather balloon. There's a little note that says "See more at CitiBank.com."
As if anyone is watching a commercial and thinks "Holy crap! Where can I see MORE commercials!"
"OK Sully," you say. "It's a lame commercial. But why are you getting worked up over it?"
Because they show the same commercial over and over again. And JUST that commercial. I'm trying to watch baseball highlights while my wife is watching Top Chef and some insane show with Ice T and his bonkers wife. And in between each great 20 second highlight I hear "You got a weather balloon with points!"
A great home run. "You got a weather balloon with points!"
The post game celebration. "You go a weather balloon with points!"
A tribute to a great retired ballplayer. "You got a weather balloon with points!"
Not to get all baseball on you, CitiBank... but mix up your pitches! If I hear "You got a weather balloon with points!" one more time I will... um... I guess do nothing.
My bank isn't CitiBank. And I am going to continue to watch baseball highlights.
So I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that this guy got a weather balloon with points.
(Please tell me I am not the only person who is driven to insanity by the guy who got a weather balloon with points. E mail me at info@sullybaseball.com)
What makes me crazy (or I should say what else drives me crazy, for I too loathe the lack of variety in their commercials), is that I got a month of MLB.tv free on my iPad, ostensibly paid for by the Volvo commercials. And now the free month is over. And I'm still watching Volvo commercials before I can see the game. So why isn't it free? Either paid or ad-supported, gents, let's make up our minds.
ReplyDeleteYou got a weather balloon with points!
ReplyDeleteYes I did!
ReplyDeleteI admit I don't watch much highlights on the Internet, but I have watched clips and been irritated by the commercials. That said, this commercial really appeals to me. I don't look at the reality of it, although I understand what they did is not easy, but not impossible. These guys are like adult kids. At age 50, I like letting a large balloon go in the air and wondering where it will land. Either I still have that kid in me or I'm crazy. Maybe it's selfish, but he's doing what he wants with the points he's earned. And it looks like he and his friends are really enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a stupid commercial. I hate it, too, for all the reasons you mention and more. These yuppie doosh bags don't have anything better to do with their points than play games like children? How about donating them to charity?
ReplyDeleteyep it bugs the hell out of me for the exact same reasons!
ReplyDeleteOne asks "You got a weather balloon with points?" As if he didn't know that. As if they just randomly drove up a hill with a gigantic airtank and equipment and he never asked "Where are we going."
ReplyDeleteEven more stupid, it's the guy that drives the SUV (and owns it) that's making this comment. You would think this question would have been asked by the SUV owner before the Points Guy just starts piling an odd assortment of gear in the back of HIS SUV and asks him to drive to some random deserted field.
And this commercial gets played all the time on the Yankees network.
It's totally possible, I'm sure, but what's the likelihood of finding a weather balloon on the ground after it's gone up ninety miles? Consider the Hypotenuse as affected by the Earth's rotation and wind and whatever else...that thing is going to be hard to retrieve by our diverse cast on one day of shooting.
ReplyDeleteI detest the Dave Navarro commercial less than this one.
ReplyDeleteBTW, this commercial was based on something that actually happened. Some kid sent an iPhone up into the stratosphere with a weather balloon last year. It got coverage on CNN. Not only is it a dumb ad, it's not even original.
Sucks also that it's not an original idea. A dad and his kid did this exact thing (minus the stupid Citibank points I'm sure) a year ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDIYX_kj0iE
Great job Citibank Ad-guys, you unoriginal bastards!
Sully...I totally agree. It's such a ridiculous commercial...slightly racist! It's so annoying to the point that my 3 y.o. kid keeps repeating the whole, "you got balloon with points!".
ReplyDeleteNo...you are not crazy...it drives me nuts too...and so does the united health guy one a motorcycle saying he only gets 1 shot and he wants to leave this life exhausted, the Toyota versa's talk big walk small tell em all just just what I want..the national business pro rent-a-car commercial...the zip wick design diabetes strip commercial that targets the blood....and several others...watching tv and having to go thru the same horrible commercials over and over is agony...and why so many fish oil commercials and electronic cigarette commercials?
ReplyDeleteI imagine focus groups watching an early form of that commercial which ommitted the little, "You got a weather balloon with points!" snippet.
ReplyDeleteThey were so confused by this commercial they decided to have the black guy yell, "You got a weather balloon with points!" just so it would be a little more accessible.
To be honest, I love this commercial because it's so bad it's funny. I'll be eating dinner with my family in silence and then I'll suddenly yell, "I'm eating my dinner with a fork!" Everyone laughs because they remember the commercial.
Good times.
I love this commercial with the new music. I want to buy my own weather ballon and send it into low earth orbit with a camera attached !
ReplyDeleteIf you watch closely, none of the characters seem to ask "You got a weather balloon with points!", but the clown in a beanie seems to answer
ReplyDeleteHere are the people that REALLY did this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#/video/tech/2012/01/26/can-weather-balloon-space-project.ctv
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