Tuesday, March 06, 2007

 

I. Am. Sparta!

I've been look for this video clip for a couple weeks now, ever since my buddy Nate saw it during the Oilers/Red Wings game. It's a promo ad with the Stanley Cup superimposed into a scene from the upcoming movie 300.



Why, exactly, is the Stanley Cup floating over the Battle of Thermopylae? From the press release:

The National Hockey League (NHL) and Warner Bros. Pictures have teamed on an integrated marketing campaign to promote the studio's highly anticipated film "300." The NHL and its Member Clubs will support the release of "300," which is set to open in theaters nationwide March 9, with a TV spot, co-branded merchandise, on-line promotions and player appearances, all as part of the NHL's "Quest for the Cup" initiative.

The 30-second TV promo features NHL game action and mixes dramatic shots of NHL players and the Stanley Cup with battle scenes and dialogue from the film. The spot, which was produced by NHL Productions, will air during NHL game broadcasts on NBC, VERSUS, TSN and local affiliates. The promo also will appear on NHL.com and in-arena during NHL games in select NHL markets. In addition, NHL clubs will offer its fans various giveaways, including t-shirts featuring the "Quest for the Cup" and "300" logos and passes to screenings of the film. Former and current NHL players, including members of the Anaheim Ducks, are slated to attend the March 5 Los Angeles premiere of the film, accompanied by the Stanley Cup.

Co-branded merchandise? Does that mean I'll be able to pick up a trident with Sidney Crosby's signature on it from my local Canadian Tire?

Jokes aside, I've been waiting to see 300 for some time, and have written about it several times on my other blog. It opens this Friday.

Bonus Video

The best commercial the NHL has made, by far.


Comments:

Not quite what I had imagined from your description, Andy, but that's definitely a sign of improving NHL branding.

And that hotel clip is definitely quality work. (Especially Sid's Seinfeldian "Ovechkin!")

Now, if only they could figure out that during a hockey game is not the ideal time to advertise hockey games, maybe they'd be making some progress.
 


Hm, I'm having a hard time telling whether or not that commercial preserves the original Nine Inch Nails song from the actual trailer ("The Way Out Is Through"). There's too much noise to tell whether it's the real deal or a knock-off.
 


Someone else (Double (D)ion?) had posted this a while back.

GFS.
 


What cracks me up is that they are all wearing their jerseys. I have talked to a few people who, when they were kids, thought that NHL players waked around in their jerseys all their time.

Makes sense, if you were 10 and played in the NHL, wouldn't you?

And recently there was a story here in T.O. about some guy who is a dead ringer for Sundin - on game days he usually can be seen downtown in his Sundin jersey at a restaurant having a meal. Apparently all kinds of people ask him for his autograph or for pics and he always obliges.

So not just kids apparently.
 


Hm, I'm having a hard time telling whether or not that commercial preserves the original Nine Inch Nails song from the actual trailer ("The Way Out Is Through"). There's too much noise to tell whether it's the real deal or a knock-off.

You mean the NIN song or the commercial? Because the commercial is real.

Someone else (Double (D)ion?) had posted this a while back.

GFS.


And you meant the second commercial, right?
 


And you meant the second commercial, right?

Yes, I had this up sometime before Valentine's Day but I just saw the Sparta one yesterday for the first time on Army of the Ohio. It's interesting and thankfully not as lame like the last time the NHL tried to liken players to warriors - remember this? At least this time they are using real players.
 


The hotel commercial is honestly one of my favourite ads on all of television at the moment. I'm obviously at least a little biased towards hockey but it's good to see the NHL finally having an advertising campaign that is at least on par with other major companies.

Absolutely unintended use of language in the preceding sentence but... I agree with you 100% about your last paragraph, par.
 


You mean the NIN song or the commercial? Because the commercial is real.

Yeah, I meant the NIN song, not the commercial. I'm aware that this is a real (if really corny) commercial.

That said, I'm quite excited to see this on Friday. If it's anything close to Sin City-calibre, I'll be pleased.
 


I've been look for that, too.
 


I still like the "Swedish twins" commercial a little better (because of the subtext that all Vancouver Canucks fans are huge fags).

Lol. Salient point.
 


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