Under Armour Commercials
>> 22 March 2008
TV commercials nowadays are an interesting thing. I'm sure there's some definition for advertising, and it likely involves trying to sell a product based on its merits. Nowadays, though -- Super Bowl commercials are Exhibit A -- it is not so much about deceiving you into buying a product you probably don't need, and more about getting the audience's attention with something shocking or amusing. I'm okay with this, as commercials don't (at least consciously) really influence me to go buy stuff -- see, if I'm feeling lazy enough to have sat my half-white butt down on the sofa to start watching TV, I'm not likely to get up off of said butt and go buy the product right away.
Anyway, the subject of this entry is the supercharged, testosterone-injected, incoherent commercials from Under Armour. I simply can not wrap my mind around these things. They're not funny. Or shocking. They are just a bunch of meatheads who have been in the weightroom since they weren't recruited out of high school, running around in overly-tight athletic apparel catching footballs, yelling ambiguous catch-phrases like "we must protect this house!" and "click-clack" (special pause between 'click' and 'clack', for emphasis).
"We must protect this house!" -- What does this mean? Does it mean something like "win at home" ? How does this encourage me to buy your brand? Is it a metaphor? As in the 'house' is the football player's body, and the apparel is to protect it? Are these men capable of understanding what a metaphor is?
"Click-clack" -- This is the sound of football cleats on the pavement between the locker room and field. This has no connection to playing in the actual game, or being good. For all we know you could have click-clacked your way from the locker straight to riding the pine the whole game.
I'm so confused.
Last of all, "armour" is the British rendering for "armor." Were they going for sophistication here?
So many questions...no answers. Seems to be a trend with my blog.
3 ideas preached:
I confess I didn't have any idea what under armour is. How out of it am I? I just wait till one of the kids need something and then we get it. I don't usually wait till the Super Bowl commercials tell me I need it. It's just me. I wonder if the Super Bowl people have that demographic in their database, you know over 50, don't give a you know what and have a $20.00 bill and the 10 commandments and can't break either.
Josh! You are now #1 and #2 under a google "sarcastic asian" search. That's right--anyone in the world can type sarcastic asian and hit "I'm feeling lucky" and go straight to your blog.
Now on to your post . . . I also used to think that protecting the house was winning on your home "turf" (possibly "hood", maybe "barrio"?). However, you obviously haven't seen that commercial with the steroidy 9-year-old who is protecting the house at an away game, and dancing and flexing and prancing on the bus in his tights. There goes that theory.
So protecting the house must be the "body." Now this is stupid. What is a thin piece of polyester going to do that shoulder pads won't? Their product wicks moisture and temperature regulates. That's great. Why all the stomping and grunting and flexing and offensiveness?
Also, click clack is stupid. The only thing I remember about wearing cleats on non-grass surfaces is that I was wearing them out, and if someone pushed me I was going down quickly.
Under armour also has a fantastic hunting line
http://www.underarmour.com/shop/mens/sports/hunting
When are we going to get the commercial with the click-clacking, sweaty, grunty, hunter guy jumping around in his tights?
Also, VERY nice catch on the armoUr observation. Dumb.
so true...what else can you add to that - i'll tell you, simply nothing.
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