Sponsorships Gone Wild

I was watching the Steelers/Bears game last weekend (let's not speak of the outcome), and I have to say I'm always amused by the way they try to integrate new advertisers into the game in some form or another.

There are all sorts of "official" products of the NFL... like the official beer, the official soft drink, the official truck, blah blah blah. But I couldn't help but be amused by the new sponsorship of Febreze. They created something called the "Febreze Fresh Start," which is a series of video clips of players who had "fresh starts" during the previous week of play.

That seemed like a bit of a stretch to me, as far as desperately trying to incorporate a product into the football vernacular. And it made me wonder what we're going to see next. Imagine:

- The Charmin "Wiped Out" Play of the Week
- The Kleenex brand "Officiating Call That Really Blows"
- The Hoover "Player Who Really Sucked"

And, of course:

- The Viagra "Stiff Competition" Award

I'm sure there will be plenty more like this.