once upon a baseball game: the corporate takeover of our brains continues

As wmtc readers know, I have a problem with advertising. My problem stems more from quantity - from volume - than anything else. Our visual and aural landscape has been taken over by corporate advertising. Trying to escape from constant exhortations to buy, buy, buy informs much of what I do.

Nowhere does advertising saturation bother me more than when I watch baseball. It makes sense: baseball is my greatest escape and relaxation, and it is more heavily polluted by corporate advertising than any other venue I see.

Fenway Park, Boston, 1942

Ads have always been a part of baseball - in old photographs of ballparks, there are always ads on the outfield wall - but in the last couple of decades, following the trends in the larger culture, baseball has become thoroughly permeated with advertising. I explored this in one of my better posts, "invasion of the brain snatchers", and again in a brief follow-up, "i tried to watch some advertising and a baseball game broke out". For some context for this post, I recommend reading those older posts.

Fenway Park, 1941

Fans often note that the amount of advertising in baseball isn't as bad as in, say, auto racing, where the cars are plastered with ads. I disagree; in terms of what a viewer actually sees, baseball is every bit as bad. Just because - so far - Major League Baseball uniforms and helmets are free from advertising doesn't mean we aren't subjected to just as much advertising during games, maybe more.

During one Red Sox game this summer, I documented just how pervasive this trend has become, by writing down every instance of corporate advertising that I saw or heard. Each time I saw an ad onscreen, I recorded the name of the company and how the ad was seen (that is, where in the ballpark or broadcast).

The ads fall under a few different categories, and I made up codes for each:
OF: outfield wall or on walls along the foul lines
DO: dugout - the dugout walls are papered with ads and there is an ad on the railing that prevents players from tumbling into the dugout while making a play
BP: the dreaded behind-the-plate advertising that began in the 1990s
ODB: an ad you see when the camera shows the on-deck batter, i.e., who is batting next
B2B: This pitching change/linescore/player's stats brought to you by... or an inning or an entire game brought to you by...
DTN: ads that are disguised as donations to Red Sox charities
BPN: bullpen - when you see relief pitchers warming up, there are ads on the bullpen walls
IG: the worst of all, the in-game ad, when some action of the game is linked to a particular ad. There are two such in-game ads during this Red Sox season, one whenever a batter reaches second base on a double, and another for the entire fifth inning.
And some miscellaneous ads that didn't get categorized.

Note that I did not include regular commercial breaks - these are only ads that viewers see during games. Also, photographs are for illustrative purposes only, so you can see what behind-the-plate or outfield ads look like. The photos don't correspond to the list of ads for each inning.

In addition, many of these ads are seen repeatedly. For example, the behind-the-plate advertising is seen during every single pitch, plus replays; I only noted each ad once per inning. Similarly, while there have always been ads on the outfield walls, the televised game now includes many more replays of at-bats and plays than it did 40 or even 20 years ago - which means that the ads are shown many more times, too.

* * * *

Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays, June 29, 2010

T1 [top of first inning]

pitching stats B2B Mercedes Benz dealership
BP Lumber Liquidators [twice]
BP Soccer at Fenway
BP Best Buy

OF Redsox.com
OF Ninety Nine
ODB Volvo
ODB Safe and Secure [insurance company tagline]
DO MetroPCS
DO St. Pete Clearwater
OF Soccer at Fenway on sale now
BP Giant Glass [twice]
BP JetBlue.com
BP Soccer at Fenway
B2B [list read by announcer] Southwest, Subaru dealership, Dunkin' Donuts, Ford dealership, AT&T, Kia dealership, Kayem franks

DO Xfinity
DO BankofAmerica.com
OF CVS Pharmacy
OF Waste Management
"The Amica [insurance] Pitch Zone"
OF MasterCard
Linescore B2B Southwest

[This was a 21-pitch inning, so the behind-the-plate ads were seen a minimum of 21 times, plus replays.]

B1 [bottom of first inning]

Inning B2B Southwest.com
Starting lineup B2B local Chevrolet dealership
BP BankOfAmerica.com/redsox [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway on sale now
ODB Safe and Secure
OD Xfinity
DO BankOfAmerica.com/redsox
OF Covidien [health insurance]
B2B Eastern Bank
ODB Ninety-Nine [restaurant]
OF Safe and Secure
OF Waste Management
OF Poland Springs
OF Coca Cola
OF Granite City Electric
Pitch count B2B Southwest
B2B Southwest

T2

B2B Southwest
BP Wise [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
IG Bruins
OF Stop & Shop
OF Solar Blue
OF JetBlue.com
OF Wise
B2B Covidien, F W Webb, Southwest.com

[There were 10 pitches thrown in this half-inning, so the behind-the-plate ads were seen a minimum of 10 times, plus replays.]

B2

B2B Foxwoods [casino], Southwest.com
BP Dunkin' Donuts [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
"Key matchup" B2B Acura dealership
OF Waste Management
OF Ninety Nine
food delivery to broadcast booth: D’Angelo Pizza
wallpaper in booth: Dunkin' Donuts
OF Foxwoods
OF Freecreditscore.com
"Amica pitch zone"
IG: "New York Life Safe and Secure" [batter reaches second base]
OF CVS pharmacy
DO Xfinity
DO Ford
OF Waste Management
OF Amtrack
OF Boston Globe
OF 99
OF CVS
OF W B Mason
OF Giant Glass
DTN CVS donation for every extra-inning game
DO Xfinity
DO BankOfAmerica.com/redsox
"Amica pitch zone"
B2B Southwest.com

T3

B2B Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
B2B Southwest
BP Hess Express and Hess [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
"Amica pitch zone"
OF Giant Glass
OF Jordan's Furniture
OF Stop & Shop
OF Waste Management
OF 99
OF Poland Springs
OF Volvo
OF Safe and Secure
DO Xfinity
DO StPeteClearwater.com
DO MetroPCS
DO Ford
DO BankOfAmerica.com/redsox
B2B Southwest.com

B3

B2B Cumberland Farms
BP Giant glass [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
Waste Management
Wallpaper behind player interview: Dunkin' Donuts
Injury report B2B FCHP [health insurance]
DO Xfinity
"Amica pitch zone"
B2B Southwest.com

T4

B2B Coca Cola, Southwest.com
BP Foxwoods [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
IG Lumber Liquidators - onscreen and audio
OF Covidien
OF F W Webb

"Amica Pitcher of the Week," vote at NESN.com or at the Yawkey Way team store
OF Granite City Electric
OF Solarblue.com
OF CVS
OF Giant Glass
OF Amtrak
IG General Motors - on screen during at-bat
B2B Southwest.com

B4

B2B Football at Fenway
BP 99 Kids Eat Free When Red Sox Win [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
OF Foxwoods
OF Budweiser
"AT&T trivia question"
OF Masslottery.com
OF MasterCard
OF CVS
OF Gulf
DO Xfinity
DO Dubble Bubble bucket
OF Waste Management
IG Boston Globe - between batters
OF Stanley
OF Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
OF F W Webb
OF Granite City Electric
OF Gulf
B2B Southwest.com

T5

B2B Southwest.com
BP Hood [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
IG "The 5th inning is the Eastern Bank inning"
IG Eastern Bank on player stats for each batter - repeated several times
IG Eastern Bank between replays - repeated several times
OF Foxwoods
OF Budweiser
B2B Southwest.com

B5

B2B Eastern Bank
B2B linescore B2B Southwest.com
BP Gulf [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
"The 5th inning is the Eastern Bank 5th inning"
Pitching line B2B Lexus dealership
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
IG Home Depot - onscreen and audio
IG Uno [restaurant] – onscreen and audio
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
[announcers chat about going to Uno on their way home]
OF Solarblue.com
OF Soccer at Fenway
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
OF Covidien
OF W B Mason
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
IG DTN Eastern Bank donation to Boys and Girls Club of Lowell, Massachusetts
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
AT&T trivia answer
Player stats B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
Replays B2B Eastern Bank
B2B Southwest.com

T6

DTN Hess donation for home runs
BP Verizon Wireless [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
Pitching line B2B Ace Tickets
IG All-Star voting at redsox.com
OF Waste Management, 99, Safe and Secure, Volvo, Poland Springs
IG NESN
OF JetBlue.com
OF MasterCard
OF Mass Lottery
B2B Southwest.com

B6

OF F W Webb - After coming back from F W Webb commercial between innings, camera holds on F W Webb OF ad
B2B Southwest.com
BP Benjamin Moore Paints [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
BPN Minolta
"Amica pitch zone"
"Game break B2B Toyota"
[Showing highlights of another game, different ads in the other ballpark...]
OF Solarblue.com
OF MasterCard
League leaders B2B Olympia Sports
B2B Southwest.com
pitching change
B2B Southwest.com
IG Twisted Tea - onscreen and audio
Call to the bullpen B2B Ford dealership
BPN Minolta
IG Benjamin Moore - onscreen and audio
OF Budweiser
OF CVS - seen several times on replay
OF W B Mason - seen several times on replay
"Amica pitch zone"
B2B Southwest.com
pitching change
B2B Southwest.com
B2B Southwest.com

[This was a 28-pitch inning, so the behind-the-plate ads were seen a minimum of 28 times, plus replays.]

T7

"Red Sox Gameday Live" B2B Olympia
BP Bigelow Tea [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
BPN Stop & Shop
BPN Minolta
OF CVS
"Amica pitch zone"
DTN Dunkin Donuts
OF CVS
OF Stop & Shop
OF Covidien
B2B Southwest.com

B7

"Extra Innings Live" B2B W B Mason
Linescore B2B Southwest.com
BP Giant Glass [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
BPN Konica Minolta
DO Xfinity
DO Ford
DO Dubble Bubble
OF CVS
B2B Southwest.com
pitching change
B2B Southwest.com

T8

B2B Eastern Bank, Sports Authority
BP Under Armor [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
Linescore B2B Southwest.com
OF F W Webb
OF Granite City
"Red Sox Final" B2B Granite City Electric
OF Giant Glass
BPN Konica Minolta
BPN Stop & Shop
"Amica pitch zone"
BPN Konica Minolta
BPN Stop & Shop
BPN Giant Glass
BPN Konica Minolta
B2B Southwest.com
pitching change
B2B Southwest.com
OF Amtrak
OF Boston Globe
OF 99
Linescore B2B Southwest.com
B2B Southwest.com

B8

B2B Southwest.com
"The road ahead" [schedule preview] B2B Safeco Insurance
BP BankOfAmerica.com [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
BPN Konica Minolta
BPN Stop & Shop
BPN Giant Glass
Post-game show B2B W B Mason, Granite City Electric
"Catch of the Day" B2B D’Angelo
IG D'Angelo "the official lobster roll of the Boston Red Sox" - onscreen and audio
"Aspen Dental play of the game"
Post-game show B2B W B Mason, Granite City Electric
"Futures at Fenway" B2B Xfinity
B2B Southwest.com

T9

B2B Bermuda Tourism, New England Toyota dealers, Olympia Sports, Sullivan Tire, Southwest
BP Ace Tickets [twice]
BP Best Buy
BP Soccer at Fenway
BPN Konica Minolta
BPN Stop & Shop
BPN Giant Glass
Post-game show B2B Granite City Electric
B2B Southwest.com
pitching change
B2B Southwest.com
Game summary B2B W B Mason, Xfinity
B2B Southwest.com
pitching change
B2B Southwest.com
NESN.com/redsox
"Amica pitch zone"
DTN IG "Save of the Game" B2B Bob's Furniture
B2B Southwest.com

[Red Sox won at home; no bottom of the ninth]