Bring Back Bobby!

With the news that the Bruins are going to keep the ad agency that gave them those great 'bear' commercials (if you haven't seen them, click here for my fav, h/t to Kukla for the news), I figured it was time to bring back Bobby.

MSG ran a few of those Bobby Granger commercials a few years back, then inexplicably ended the campaign. Most fans that I've spoken to got a kick out of them, I know I did. I put my personal fav below. But with a new season approaching, it is time for a new MSG ad campaign, and why not use Bobby? He was the quintessential everyfan who was funny and actually *gulp* showed some personality! What a concept, MSG and the Garden having personality. And Joe Micheletti and his bad puns don't count because he is horrendous. I've been asked, who do I loathe more: Tom Poti, Marek Malik or Wade Redden? Poti wins that one hands down but put him up against Micheletti and I would have a tough time deciding. Worst broadcaster in the biz.

But I digress.

Those spots were entertaining, interesting and started conversation. We would always ask, 'did you see the new one?' But they ran out real quick and stopped being aired a few years back. The last time I saw Bobby in person was two seasons ago when he was being kicked out of the Garden for confronting an obnoxious away fan (Flyers or Isles, I can't recall). Surely that couldn't have been what has kept them from producing his commercials; the Garden has gotten multiple lawsuits for much, much, much, much worse.

Let's face it, the commercials couldn't have cost too much to make and they were fun, and that is what hockey is supposed to be.

A Word From Our Sponsors

Not my sponsors, I don't have any. I am referring to the Penguins commercial where they use Bob Johnson's famous "It's a great day for hockey" as the theme. It is a brilliant idea and it makes for a wonderful ad that celebrates Pens hockey. I may be behind the curve a little on it but I saw it tonight on the NHL Network and felt I had to share:

It almost made me hate them less, ... no, not really. But seriously, I got chills - especially thinking back to that my experience in that Fresh Air. The one ranks up there with the incredible Stanley Cup commercial and the underrated Braydon Coburn spot for Versus. Great work guys!

Wow, What A Commercial

It has been easy to jump on all of the inadequacies of the NHL's marketing in recent years. From the NHL store to the broadcasts to the scheduling to the logo change, the league has made many mistakes and has done quite a poor job. But I have to bow down and say that I have been utterly blown away. Puck Daddy over at Yahoo! posted it last week but I just saw it - the NHL's new playoff commercial:

The concept follows the league's commercial earlier this year that followed a play around the rink with players from different eras playing in the different shot changes. It is simply a brilliant idea and all credit is due to the league for coming up with it. Hopefully they plaster it on every sports channel during every sporting event over the next week - not just Versus and NBC during the game.

Great Commercial

For those that didn't see the Winter Classic, Verizon debuted a fantastic new commercial:

It won't make me buy their phone, but it did make me laugh ...