Advertising, ad campaigns, ad agencies, and the people that make it happen

I had to laugh when I read that the National Football League has finally chosen the fan whose idea will be turned into a Super Bowl commercial. It would seem Gino Bona of Portsmouth, N.H., is the winner of the NFL's promotion that gave fans the opportunity to determine one of the league's 30-second spots which will run next month in Super Bowl XLI. Mr. Bona, who is a Portland, Maine, sales director, traveled to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., in November to pitch his idea to a panel of judges. Under the tagline "It's hard for us, too," Mr. Bona's idea described several scenes of fans' reactions as the Super Bowl comes to an end. After the game, fans pay season-long bar tabs and console one another as they struggle with the fact that there will be no more NFL games for another seven months. OK, I guess if you’re a football fan, it might work. But what I found amusing was getting down to the fine print… One member of the three person judging panel was Joe Pytka, who will also direct the spot when they shoot it next week. Knowing for a fact that Joe hasn’t shot a spot for the last ten years that didn’t come in with a production cost of at least a million dollars, it did seem a little stingy of the NFL when I read that Mr. Bona’s prize package was airfare to South Florida for himself and a guest -- along with two tickets to Super Bowl XLI. Wow… That must be worth at least two or three thousand dollars. I do hope the Adverati of Madison Avenue are beginning to grasp where all this enthusiasm for Consumer Generated Content is leading them!!!

Hey Gino... Thanks for the idea.    Now go home!