Read the debate intro and the argument from Loyal Homer that the NFL is right to clamp down on fun players who allow companies to influence their end zone dances.
Hypocrisy, an American tradition. The NFL merchandises EVERYTHING. There is the usual fare like hats, shirts, jackets, and jerseys. It is possible to purchase key chains, imprint a team’s logo on a credit card, and even buy a topper for the car antenna. But, when players attempt to monetize something the NFL simply has not thought of and harnessed yet – like the end zone dance – the NFL squashes it. How dare a player come up with or participate in a great idea they financially benefit from – and the league does not. A travesty! Quick, shut it down, NFL. The No Fun League strikes again.
By now many of us are familiar with the story of Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek and his complicit participation in an end zone dance featuring the Captain Morgan signature pose. This is an incredibly smart marketing tactic from Captain Morgan and the brand’s advertising agency… guerilla marketing at its finest. The company correctly identified an entertaining pop culture commercial, targeted the right player to pull off the stunt (one that scores touchdowns and is on board with the idea), and developed a program that was so fun and interesting it was difficult to identify as an actual advertising campaign. Leave it to Buzz Killington, a.k.a. the NFL, to put the kibosh on fun.
The only way to improve this end zone celebration for Captain Morgan is if the team captain was the player striking the pose.
This type of end zone celebration is good for the league, too. Subtlety makes good advertising great. Audiences appreciate ads that demand interpretation. No, not every viewer of an NFL football game will understand the meaning behind the celebration, just like not every consumer grasps the various idiosyncrasies of Apple ads. Viewers appreciate a brand more when they are forced to uncover meaning and feel as though they are in on the inside joke. It is an example of basic targeted marketing, and NFL should embrace it.
As a person with some experience in marketing communications, it pains me to see the NFL treat this idea and execution with such disdain. Talk about a victimless crime! The player and the brand had some fun and gained a few headlines. It is not as if the NFL does not believe in alcoholic beverages being associated with the league (see the 400+ Bud Light and Miller Light ads during each game). Put simply, there is no reason for the NFL to squash this idea – other than the fact that it did not think of it first. Perhaps the NFL will re-launch the idea officially sanctioned by the league, with no money offered for players.
The end zone celebration should be for sale as a fun way for players to earn some notoriety and money in the league. The league can put some rules around what is permissible and what is not. However, the idea behind banning excessive end zone celebrations is because they are disrespectful to the opposing team. The thinking behind the end zone celebrations should change from unsportsmanlike to an occasional advertising model they becomes a must watch part, clever part of the NFL experience.
I encourage players (I am talking to you, Chad Ochocinco) to try and develop campaigns and continue this trend, regardless of what the muckity-mucks in high rises in downtown Manhattan think. Provided campaigns stay guerilla in nature, remain good ideas, and are not over used (e.g. the same overtly paid for dance each time a player scores… during a game where they just so happen to score five touchdowns) players should continue to make a few bucks on the side promoting their favorite products. Or maybe a loosely governed NFL ban may make these end zone dances even better. The breaking of the rules makes the celebrations even more enticing and daring… and legendary.
The Captain Morgan’s end zone dance example is not an example of a slippery slope, either. The celebration had enough of the cool factor to be warmly received by fans. If players start whipping out flags or wearing sandwich boards over their jerseys, then fine away. But, the same league that permits paid advertising patches on training camp jerseys cannot ban branded end zone dances.
If the NFL takes a hard-line stance against this and levies massive fines for each player caught “touchdownvertising,” I have just one thing to say to them: Child, please.
Posted by Sports Geek 
