Wednesday, May 05, 2004


Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Baseball sells 'Spider-Man' ads on bases
NEW YORK (AP) -- Spider-Man is coming to a base near you.

Was that the runner's shoe on base? Or was it Spiderman's face? Will players wear shoes to match the ads and blend in a little better?

Ads for "Spider-Man 2'' will be placed atop bases at major league ballparks during games from June 11-13 as part of a promotion announced Wednesday. The move is the latest push by baseball to increase its marketing to younger fans -- and make money along the way.

"I guess it's inevitable, but it's sad,'' said Fay Vincent, a former baseball commissioner and former president of Columbia Pictures, which is releasing the movie. "I'm old-fashioned. I'm a romanticist. I think the bases should be protected from this.''

The "Spider-Man'' promotion has been in the works for more than a year and will include ad buys and ballpark events, such as giving masks to fans, said Jacqueline Parkes, baseball's senior vice president for marketing and advertising. The ads, about 4 inches long, won't appear on home plates.

Who can I complain to?

All true baseball fans should BOYCOTT the Spiderman movie. (OK, so I wasn't planning on seeing it anyway. Big deal.)

Will I be receiving an e-mail from MoveOn about this too?


Ralph Nader, a presidential candidate and consumer advocate, criticized the deal. He wrote Tuesday to baseball commissioner Bud Selig, denouncing the decision to have ads on uniforms during the season-opening series in March between the Yankees and Tampa Bay in Tokyo.

"It's gotten beyond grotesque,'' Nader said. "The fans have to revolt here. Otherwise, they'll be looking at advertisements between advertisements."

Oh God....maybe I should vote for Ralph after all. The voice of sanity.

This is like selling ad space on the American flag. Sacrilege.