What If Roadies Ran The World?
The Sprint/Nextel merger looked good on paper. But the attempted combination of two incompatible technologies eviscerated Nextel’s magic, and its draw, its push to talk feature used by blue collar workers moving the goods and performing the services of America. Is there any way to save the company?
Many people believe Nextel should be spun off. Until that point, Sprint is relying on advertising. And what a doozy their spot is.
Doug Morris complains that everybody wants to make a buck on the back of the music business. What I find even more interesting is that all the innovation arises outside the industry’s hallowed halls. Guitar Hero didn’t come from Universal. Nor did this spot. You can make a record in five minutes, put it online in ten, but what is usually purveyed is the most hackneyed crap, made by committee for a market to the point where all its soul has been sapped. Miss the new hit record and you’ve missed nothing. Miss Nextel’s roadie commercial, and you’ve missed some good laughs.
I caught it during the World Series. When I experienced that Chevy Chase/Christie Brinkley ad so many times, not only do I hope she remarries Peter, I cannot for the life of me remember what product they were hawking. As for the ads behind home plate… If Fox shouldn’t be ashamed of itself, Jim Carrey certainly should. Who cares about his next flop movie? As for the game itself, it started at 10 PM on the east coast! You should have seen the fans, not only did they have on their beanies in the frigid weather, they were dozing off as the game neared its almost 2 A.M. completion time.
But the game itself, baseball, survives. Despite MLB trying to kill it with these made for TV spectaculars, that leave kids asleep and out of it and offer tickets priced so high you’re surprised a blow job doesn’t come with each and every one. When the Devil Rays’ manager created the five man infield in the ninth inning, I was stunned to experience something I’d never seen before, despite this being a game played by rules, unlike the calcified music game.
Yes, the Devil Rays lost. They were the beneficiaries of a good call, but also the cold air kept one of their long balls from going into the stands… It all seemed so much more fair when the Fall Classic was played during the first week of October. But it was fun to watch, and the most memorable non-game moment was the Nextel ad, "What if roadies ran the world?"
Don’t complain that the actors are not as grizzled as real road dogs. Just stay to the end, until the final laugh.
If only we had this creativity in the music world…
