Every facet of sports is commercialized anymore. The NBA is adding sponsorship to jerseys, a practice that has already caught on in the WNBA, and has really taken off in some European sports leagues. In some, you can’t even find the team’s logo amidst a sea of sponsors.
The stadiums are all named after a sponsor. The walls, scoreboards, boards and hardwood are decorated with sponsorship. Everything is an ad. Now, even the process of cleaning sweat and water off of the court during college basketball games is commercialized, and it’s absolutely genius.
You know how staff comes out and mops up the floor during play stoppages so the players don’t slip? It’s a mundane, forgettable part of the live sports experience that you likely miss by going to the bathroom or getting snacks. But, Old Spice has decided to capitalize on this dull, albeit necessary, part of the game by creating giant sticks of deodorant to cover the mops, and recruiting people to “deodorize” the court, dubbing them the Sweat Mop Boys in a glorious display of wordplay and satire.
The first event took place at the University of Washington, and the second at the University of Oregon. While the guys mopped the floor, the Old Spice logo flashed on the jumbotron, per Adweek.
Here they are. Those exact same Sweat Mop Boys are back to mop sweat at another college basketball game. pic.twitter.com/UgdbTiNLWo
— Old Spice (@OldSpice) January 19, 2018
The promotion was a created by Portland-based Wieden + Kennedy, so the fact that they advertised in the Pacific Northwest first makes sense. If this proves to be a boost for Old Spice, blending sports with hygiene (which is a good idea), it could grow to other schools across the country, too. It could also plant a bug in other companies’ brains that everything can be a promotion, even the things you overlook by checking email, running to the bathroom or grabbing a drink.
Find something no one else is doing and think about everything as an opportunity. It could become one a promotional experience that gets worldwide attention.
