Take Me Out To the Ball Game...........

A reader interactive post. Please refer to the song take me out to the ballgame as you read though this post. Here we go…..

Take me out to the ballgame. WAIT STOP, insert commercial here for Chick Fillet (Fast Food), wait 30 seconds and begin singing along once again.

Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, WAIT STOP, insert commercial for United Parcel Overnight Delivery Service here, wait 30 seconds and begin singing along once again.

I don't care if I never get back, WAIT STOP, insert commercial for some ubiquitous home mortgage company here, wait 30 seconds and begin singing along once again.

Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

WAIT STOP, before anything continues prepare to listen to several more promotional announcements of some sort. For example,

The first pitch of the game is brought to you by,

The first honorary pitch of the game is brought to you by,

The nicest smile of the game is brought to you by (some Houston cosmetic dental firm)

And so it goes. It never stopped. And like too much ice cream it became increasingly uncomfortable and irritating as the night wore on.

So, by now you’ve guessed that I’ve been to a major league baseball game. Technically, it was a baseball game but from my perspective it was more like eavesdropping into the conference room of an advertising agency. Surely, I understand the necessity of sponsorship but believe me, the commercial assault began last evening as my guests and I walked from the car towards the stadium. EVERYTHING that could be sponsored was.

Surprisingly enough the men’s room was seemingly void of commercialism.

Perhaps audio provided by a deeply voiced announcer could boast “this flush brought to you by the Tidy Bowl Man – Remember to wash your hands” They missed one, I should send them the idea.

So, why is this observation worth a post? Well, because believe me the bombardment of commercial imagery and sounds didn’t stop all evening. It even included characters in full costume, roaming the stands to sell their ideas. It’s not that I’m irritated that easily, (We’ll that all depends) it just went overboard. (did I mention that my tickets were almost 50.00 each and parking was additional? I would have spent more for the seats for a commercial free version)

It’s no wonder consumer debt in this country is sky high.

If you’ve reached this portion of the post you may be wondering what really set me off?

Well, being intimately familiar with the public relations game, I was saddened by the first pitch (which by the way was made by a veteran of the Iraq war that has spent the past four years has recovering from combat wounds). Of course the national anthem was sung by a Female Navy Officer in full dress uniform, and the display of the national colors was also quite dramatic. Believe me, I appreciate the efforts of our soldiers but I sit in utter amazement wondering how in good conscience such public displays of government orchestrated pageantry can take place against the backdrop of solders in combat at this very moment who are underpaid, under equipped and working alongside “civilian contractors” making enormous salaries for the very same work. So once again, why this post, we’ll it’s what I observed. Texas is a very proud place and the Texans at the game were well focused on the singer, flag and troops. Then of course, it was time to play ball, I mean, listen to more commercial announcements.

Interesting Links:

Lyrics of Music for "Take me out to the ball game" (Click Here)