The Ring Zero

H/t to Gary for passing along this trailer featuring Naomi Watts and everyone's favorite ad campaign:

Getting You Ready For Tonight's CSN Broadcast

If you thought you hated me for yesterday's Boudreau post, read this and/or watch this.

Christ. I think I'd rather be Rickrolled.

D&G Time Or Ovi Time?

Flipping through the wife's copy of Glamour (hey, the Executive Reading Room doesn't exactly have the Library of Congress catalog of periodicals on hand), I stumbled upon the following ad for Dolce & Gabbana watches and thought the pitchman looked familiar:

Now, it's not you-know-who, but given his well-documented love of the brand, perhaps the company is trying to take advantage of an implied endorsement. Or perhaps it looks nothing like him and he's just been away so long I've forgotten what he looks like. Probably the latter.

You Know You Have A Huge Fundraising Advantage When...

By opting out of public financing for the general election, Barack Obama has been able to raise - and spend - positively ridiculous sums of money. In fact, he's going to end up "breaking the advertising spending record set by President Bush in the general election four years ago, having unleashed an advertising campaign of a scale and complexity unrivaled in the television era."

Senator Obama is out-spending Republican Presidential nominee John McCain by at least a four-to-one margin, and raised more money in September than Senator McCain has been permitted to in the entire general election (Senator McCain was constrained by the limits that accompany accepting public financing).

And while the two candidates buy up air time on your television and radio, Senator Obama is going somewhere that his opponent isn't: your video games. Per the AP (via FirstCuts):

For those too busy playing video games to watch presidential ads on television, Barack Obama has a solution. He's become the first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside a game....

The Democrat's ads are aimed primarily at game players who like sports, including NASCAR, the NBA, the NHL and skateboarding. That means EA Sports' motto, "It's in the game," now applies to presidential politics as well.

The NHL? Yep (maybe they saw an opening after the Republican Vice Presidential nominee nearly got booed out of the Wachovia Center and took the hint from the sign-holders in the background of this shot). Here's an example:

Photo via Flickr
So what do you think - keep your politics out of my video games or cool and clever?

Two More Boudreau Ads

Thanks to White and Partners (the ad agency that put these spots together) for passing these along:

Poor Ilya...

Our friends down in Atlanta have cooked up a new marketing and advertising campaign (and boy, do they need it) centered on the phrase "Become One in Blueland" - as in, "Want to be a hockey player wasting your talent toiling away in relative anonymity without a snowball's chance in hell of ever winning anything?"


H/t to KK on the link

The Cup Holder

H/t to Capitals Kremlin for posting this clip:
Update: Thanks to White and Partners (the ad agency that put this spot together) for passing along a cleaner version.

Sports "Endorsement Of The Week"

The dummies on Madison Avenue may somehow have no idea who Alex Ovechkin is (or, perhaps worse, they may not care who he is), but CNBC Sports Biz guru Darren Rovell sure does, and he digs the hell out of Ovi's Hair Cuttery endorsement:

"When the world's richest athletes sign endorsement deals, they are usually with blue chip companies. The thinking is always to do an advertisement or commercial that aligns with a certain class of company.

"But I am absolutely loving the latest endorsement deal that's been consummated. Alexander Ovechkin, who signed a 13-year, $124 million with the Washington Capitals in January, has signed a deal with the Hair Cuttery."

Read on to see why Rovell's such a fan of the promos, and by all means send us your pics of the ads as you spot 'em around town (japers dot rink at gmail dot com).

Is This The Year That NHL.com's Media Player Stops Screwing Up Browsers?

Sid The Defensive End?

Alex Ovechkin is listed at 6'2", 217 pounds. Judging from the picture below currently running on NHL.com, Sidney Crosby must be 6'5", 275. Funny...I thought he was smaller than that.

Sergei Fedorov: The Marketing Side

While we're all hopeful for what Sergei Fedorov will do for the Caps on the ice, don't forget that he has been one of the League's most marketable players for more than a decade. Here are some highlights (note a special cameo in the first clip), and don't be surprised if the team tries to get his name out there as much as possible and soon (I'm willing to bet that Fedorov has better name recognition in this town than all but two guys on the current Caps team):

A Historical Ride To Sixty

Thanks to Paul and the Caps for passing along this spot, currently running on Vs. (with which, incidentally, Islanders Outsider via our friends at Islanders Army rightfully has issues):

Is This The Year?

H/t to ihatethepens on the link

Nike Capitulates To Hockey Gods

The Toronto Star confirmed this morning what had been rumored for a while: Nike is getting out of the hockey business.

While the swoosh may be gone from skates, thanks to YouTube, we'll always have those great commercials. And if the first few games of the season are any indication of things to come, the RBK ad folk may want to consider recutting this gem, substituting Michael Nylander and Nicklas Backstrom for Mats Sundin:

Just Plead It

Hit play, then wait for it... wait for it...

Two minutes for roughing? How about two years on federal conspiracy charges instead?

H/t to Slasher for the reminder of this great ad.

Hey, Sid Really Is Thirsty

If you live south of the (U.S./Canada) border like most of us, you won't get to see this ad on television any time soon. It's a pity, because it's a stunning advertisement as much for hockey as for the product it's actually trying to move. But wouldn't it be a bit more realistic if the NASA-like team inside Sid the Kid's head decided to make him dive in hopes of drawing a penalty rather than go high-glove with a sick wrister?

Great New NHL Ad

Take a gander: