Are You Preak-ing Kidding Me?
It’s the spring of 2010. Nothing is sacred. And nothing, absolutely nothing, is off limits. This includes teachers having sex with students, husbands having sex with mother-in-laws and nursing home workers having sex with the elderly women in their care. It’s the End of Days, right? No, it’s the Preakness Infield Fest advertising campaign.
“Get Your Preak On.” As in get your freak on; as in do the nasty, kinky as you wannabe.
Really, Maryland Jockey Club? Are you preak-ing kidding me? Are you trying to stick a fork in yourselves? Do you want to completely de-value what’s left of the Preakness brand?
This is no prudish rant. I’ve spent my life in advertising. I respect the power of great ideas. I respect the people who create them and I respect those with the intelligence and courage to stand up for them. And I’m certainly not opposed to the use of sexual innuendo in advertising — when it’s delivered with some measure of wit and intelligence and is relevant to the product.
But the campaign that’s running now? Show me the wit. Show me the intelligence. And please, tell me how a radio commercial about having sex with a grandmother in a nursing home is relevant to a cherished, storied Maryland sporting tradition beyond the lame, first-year-copywriter use of “preak” instead of “freak.”
I rarely critique work done by others because advertising is hard and it’s not created in a vacuum. I’m sure the Maryland Jockey Club is trying to undo the effects of last year’s genius decision to ban coolers in the infield by going hard at the 18- to 24-year olds who stayed away. But this campaign is trying way too hard to be party-animal cool. Young people don’t want to be hit over the head. They spot blatant pandering a mile away. They have wit. They have intelligence. Oh yeah, and they have grandmothers.
UPDATE: The Baltimore Sun weighs in on the ad controversy with a comment from Jeff in the article: “Courting lost infield fans, Preakness takes a risk with risqué ads.”
3 Comments
1
Misty Letts says:
April 19th, 2010 @ 11:04 am
Kudos Jeff, nothing like taking a grand ol’ Dame like the Preakness and making it all about the anarchy. Step to far? Yes.
I realize bringing the 20 somethings to Pimlico equals success. To bad we don’t try to reach down and pull them up, rather than lay down and squeal with delight.
2
Lloyd Bradford says:
April 19th, 2010 @ 11:34 am
I’m glad to see someone from within the industry feels the same as the average Joe on the street about this Preakness campaign ad!
I pass an “I get my Preak on with strangers” billboard every morning (regrettably)on I-95 south of the Ft. McHenry tunnel…and I’m still trying to figure out just who is impressed by this advertisement?!
I know the only advertisements that are remembered are the really good ones and the really bad ones…and this one will definitely be remembered by me as one of the worst!!!
Maybe they should have used the same person that thought up the Lotto’s “Tickets for Life” commercial!!!
3
Jason says:
April 26th, 2010 @ 1:55 pm
Nicely said Jeff.