It was sort of amusing when people started doing kitsch holiday commercials in a CGI version of those old quasi-claymation holiday specials (Rodolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the like). I'm ok with hipster irony, at least to a point.
It was a whole lot less amusing when somebody (I've forgotten who) did a commercial this year using the actual characters from the Rudolph special. If you want to ape the feel of the show, that's one thing, but keep your grubby hands off Yukon Cornelius.
But now, they've really crossed the line-- ESPN's SportsCenter has been hyping the Patriots to the skies, including a ridiculous little chat segment in which Chris Berman and Bill Parcells talk about great teams of the past and how the Pats stack up. These are followed by a "Number of the Day" segment featuring... The Count from Sesame Street.
Now, look, if you wanted to use Elmo or that dreadful princessy girl muppet they were introducing a year or so ago, or some other new sellout character, that would be one thing. Hype your shows all you want with that new crap. But when you start messing with the Count, you're messing with beloved icons of my childhood, and that will not be tolerated.
Keep this up, and I'll open one! Two! Three! Three cans of whup-ass! Ha ha ha ha ha! [FX: lightning, thunder].
(Actually, it's more like "I'll write one, two, three whiny blog-posts about the commercial appropriation of my childhood icons," but that doesn't have the proper menacing tone...)
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The Count sold out long ago. He was the official spokes-muppet of the 2000 US Census. Sure you might think that was for a good cause, but once he got a taste for those higher numbers, it was a slippery slope to football.
And Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer was explicitly a marketing tool from day 1. He was created for a book used to attract people into Montgomery Ward stores ~70 years ago.
http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/rudolph.asp
Besides, the Pats seem to be giving all sorts of sports media outlets an excuse to go hog-wild. The NFL network peeved me by putting ad spots talking up the Patriots' 15-0 record on the telecast of the 15th game, before they'd actually beaten the Dolphins. I know the Phins this year have stunk up the joint like, well... rotten fish, but still, that's disrespect.
So, we're stuck with more of this. Particularly if they take an undefeated record into the playoffs.
All I can say is that if the Project Runway designers wind up madly throwing together sample designs for commemorative jerseys, that's going too far.