Commercialism in . . . Football, Sports, Everything?

Just coming off my SUN morning ritual of watching the SAT, MLS highlights . . . . During the RSL vs. whoever match, there was a cornerkick-- oops!, I mean a "KFC Colonel's Corner Kick"-- whether or  not RSL scored is immaterial here.

Is it just me, or does the "KFCC CK" seem absurd to anyone else? I'm all for a little marketing, especially when it's clever and funny, but a KFC corner kick?! I guess we Americans lead the way with such "innovative" methods, as I have yet to see a "Carlsburg" or "Vodaphone" penalty kick on ITV. Of course, we're spared with the BBC, as it's commercial free; but that's the other exterme. I mean, give me one or two good Superbowl-type commercials. (There are also some very good British ads.) But don't simply overrun my threshold sense of commercialism with marketing every little element of a sporting event.

Looking at the bright side, at least the MLS/KFC contract didn't dictate that it be called the "Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harlan Sanders, resumption of play after the defending team last touched the ball before it went into touch over said team's endline." That would be a proper way to even further innundate the advertising-starved audience norteamericano.

I guess such marketing has been going on for a while now. I remember such games as the Cotton Bowl, or the [fill in the traditional name] Bowl, initially being relabeled the [fill in corporate sponsor/product] [fill in traditional name] Bowl. Eventually the traditional name was dropped from many of these games, leaving just the [fill in corporate sponsor/product] [delete the traditional name] Bowl format, yielding such interesting tilts as "The Outback Bowl" (not played in Australia, btw), or the Beef "O" Brady's Bowl (is that a menu item, or a sports contest?) or the GODADDY.com Bowl-- wtf?! So it should be no surprise that we've descended even further into pure commercialism with the likes of the KFC Corner Kick or Doritos Halftime.

The million dollar question for KFC or PepsiCo/Frito-Lay's marketing team is how much a, say, $5M sponsorship (and what some may consider over-the-top "relabeling"-- or using a common-noun modifier-- of "Halftime") generates in a) new Doritos sales, and b) repeat purchases, by people who otherwise may not have done so?  Does seeing Michelin Halftime make everyone run out to the nearest Pep Boyz (I hear they're changing the spelling to match kids' perceptions) to get new tires pur on the SUV? There  must be something to it, otherwise the companies wouldn't spend the money they do on such subtle advertising.

The other question is where does it all stop? Or does it? Just imagine the possibilities for enhancing the  Ibrahimovic's goal versus les Bleus with a football fan's desire for a bucket-- the KFC Biscuit (scone for those readers in the UK) is played wide toward the right, KFC Cole Slaw corner flag into the path of KFC Corn on the Cob #7, Sebastian Larsson. Buttery Corn Cob plays teh Biscuit with a brilliant first time, KFC Original Recipe cross back toward the top, center of the KFC Chicken Nugget 18-yard box, where KFC Extra Crispy, #10, Zlatan Ibrahimovic meets the Biscuit with perfectly timed run, adjusting midstride for a beautiful KFC Hot Wings (bone in), side volley into KFC Mashed Potatoes, #1 Lloris' KFC Bucket goal! How could any sports purist not appreciate prose so descriptive that it almost puts you into Row 15 at the final KFC Macaroni & Cheese, Group D match at KFC Euro 2012 in Kyiv's Colonel Sanders Olympic-Stadium?!