Whose the Guy in the Box?

As someone who works in advertising, I get it. I understand it. I'm aware (especially on the web) that advertiser's messages are all around me. It's only going to get worse as the next big thing in the next two to three years will be advertisements placed on your mobile devices.

But there are times when advertisers and their messages and branding goes too far. Working for a publisher, I've seen it as clients try to push the envelope with how far they can go.

But this is over the edge. This is a picture of the May schedule for the Boston Red Sox, found on their website, RedSox.com. If I'm not mistaken there is an image of someone in the box for the May 22 game against Kansas City.


Who the hell is in the box - why it's Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones??? WTF??

When I think of baseball, I think of the seventh inning stretch - Take Me out to the Ball Game, Sweet Caroline being played in the eighth inning at Fenway Park. The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, the taste of a Fenway Frank and a watered-down $7 beer and Indiana Jones.

Go to mlb.com and check out the schedule for any major league team. Look at who is on the schedule (even for the teams that have an off day) for every major league team on May 22. Turns out Indy's new movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Though the original working title was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Depends Undergarments), opens that day and is a tie-in for this promotion from Major League Baseball.

Will the promotion stop there, will there be an Indiana Jones Fathead plastered on the Green Monster at Fenway (Sox are home that day against Kansas City). If the Indy Fathead on the Green Monster goes well, the Sox could put this one on the Monster when the Yankees are in town.

Since Roger Clemens like 15-year-old singers, I bet he has this Fathead above his bed. Best Roger Clemens joke I've heard the past week, "Roger Clemens is so stupid he wants to have a three-way with Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus."

Anyways, one last thing about this Living Legends of Baseball promotion that Indiana Jones is being tied into. On the Living Legends contest page, several baseball players are shown - Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Greg Maddux, Johan Santana, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez. Why are current players shown? They aren't living legends. When watching any of the aforementioned six players play I don't say to myself, "Look there's (fill-in blank), he's a living legend."

Here are some options of living legends who should instead be pictured: Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken, Sandy Koufax.

They are the true legends of the game.