Badvertising: Nivea sponsors New Jersey Nets’ lockerroom; logos on jerseys just a matter of time?

If you’re anything like me, you have a special distaste in your heart for most aspects of the “art” of advertising — invasive, persistent, and aggressively insulting, commercial advertising is consistently being shoehorned into new and tighter spaces as part of the on-going attempt to commoditize every spare foot of space and every fleeting second our eyeballs are affixed to something we’re trying to enjoy (not to mention the recent rise in ”edgy” commercials that try so hard to be memorably bizarre that they just come off as hurried and weird).

And, as the global economy continues to struggle, advertisers will just try harder to come up with new ways to transform your varying interests into dollars for their pockets. Don’t believe me? Say hello to the New Jersey Nets’ Nivea for Men Locker Room.

“Having a partnership with a team makes a lot of sense for us,” said Magnus Johnson, vice president of marketing for Beiersdorf Inc., the American subsidiary of the parent company that owns the Nivea brand. “Athletes go from jerseys to suits and ties and they’re always looking for something to make them look good.”

Yeah, but usually that something is Steve Nash, a new tattoo, or two arms full of groupies — not skin care/shaving products (just ask Baron Davis).

While naming rights to actual arenas and stadia are sold all the time, it is something new entirely (at least in American sports, and no, I’m not counting NASCAR) for a company to seek to integrate their specific brand at increased levels throughout the organization. But what about the level that impacts you, the fan, the most — player jerseys? While advertisements in the Nets lockerroom will not directly affect the majority of fans, advertisements on the jerseys themselves would be visible for the duration of the sporting event and certainly an unwelcome sight to most. 

Stateside, one of the knocks on professional soccer in Europe is the tendency for players to take the field looking like a movable 6-ft billboard (though soccer defenders would likely argue the lack of in-match commercials is more than a fair trade). While the WNBA has dabbled with on-jersey advertising and no less than the almighty NFL has allowed it for practice only, there has yet to be a team in the 4 major American sports to take the field for sanctioned competition while simultaneously trying to sell you something (other than Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Converse, Under Armour, or tickets to their next home game).

However, it doesn’t take a business major or psychic octopus to see the writing on the wall — as traditional forms of advertising revenue continue to trickle and abate, companies will get more creative and aggressive in their branding. One would surmise that it is a matter of when, not if, a franchise in the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL in need of some extra cash strikes a deal with a publicity-hungry company and slaps a logo on their uniform other than their own. “The Los Angeles Clippers, as presented by Axe bodyspray” anyone? (Both stink to high heaven, and dedication to either qualifies you for a full psychiatric review).

What are your thoughts? Are advertisements on jerseys an inevitable result of the perpetual chase for the dollar, or would there be enough of a public backlash to keep them out of American sport? Would you care if your favorite team suited up in corporate synergy? Would it depend on the company being advertised? Let us know in the comments.

In the meantime, let’s keep an eye on the Nets and their Nivea branded lockerroom to see how this goes — I have a feeling in a couple weeks we could be hearing a story about team owner Mikhail Prokhorov fining Derrick Favors $50,000 for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Otherwise known as having the audacity to shave with Gilette.

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Nivea For Men Buys Nets Locker Room Rights [CNBC Sportsbiz]