Key And Peele To Livestream 'Sports Commentary' During An 'Upcoming Sports Game' That They Can't Name

from the the-game-that-must-not-be-named dept

Every year about this time, it's become a running joke what the NFL tries to do in controlling who says what about the Super Bowl. It's gotten to such absurd levels that I've taken to calling it "The Game That Must Not Be Named." Setting aside the insanity that is having ICE go piracy hunting just prior to the game to make sure that nobody can see the product outside of the official channels, the NFL also enjoys pretending like it can control how advertisers refer to the sporting contest. The key aspect of the NFL's demand is that nobody can use the term "Super Bowl" in advertisements unless the company is an official sponsor. That, of course, isn't even remotely true, but pretty much everyone buying ads bows at the NFL altar. This has also given birth to creative ways for advertisers to poke fun at the NFL for being such asshats, such as the Newcastle Brewing's lovely entry a few years back, when it produced an advertisement about an advertisement it didn't make, in part because the NFL wouldn't allow them to say "Super Bowl."

Well, the tradition continues, it seems, with Key and Peele promoting Squarespace by setting up a website to do "Game Day Live Commentary", called Real Talk, with a timer countdown that appears to coincide with a big sporting event occurring this weekend. Notably absent at their site, with all kinds of information about what they're going to be doing in terms of "sports commentary" on a "football" game, is any mention of the phrase "Super Bowl." Because... the NFL. They even give a shoutout to this insanity in one of their promos.

While it would be easy to let frustration dominate while thinking about how the NFL's overbearing stance has given rise to any of this, instead let the futility of it all sink in and enjoy a laugh at the NFL's expense. Does anyone not know what Key and Peele are referring to? Of course not. Anyone confused as to what the timer at the top of the page is counting down to? Nope. Is there anyone at all that gives even a moment of thought to differentiating which ads feature the term "Super Bowl" and which use some stand-in term to dance around it? No, dear friends, there is not.

Meaning that the NFL has accomplished exactly nothing, other than to create an atmosphere where the advertisers they want to become sponsors choose instead to gain attention for themselves by mocking the NFL's attempt at protectionism instead. That isn't exactly the Streisand Effect, but it's something similar.

Filed Under: key and peele, sponsorship, superbowl, superbowl superbowl superbowl superbowl superbowl, trademark
Companies: nfl, squarespace