Saturday, July 26, 2008

Which Is Creepier? X Games's Darkmane or "Wrecked" Promo Hype?


Apparently, Darkmane has just about worn out the patience of the American public. The spokesman for the upcoming X Games on ESPN is annoying and his scattered content does not make a lot of sense to fans of many other sports on ESPN...like NASCAR.

Darkmane is the centerpiece of a promo and marketing campaign that ESPN created and allocated lots of money to bring to fruition. Here is one story from The Big Lead about the issue. Here is another one with a little inside scoop. The Daly Planet email has been primarily anti-Darkman and it seems doubtful that these promos are helping the X Games among the NASCAR set.

Of course, Darkmane has his own myspace.com page and a full assortment of free stuff.

Meanwhile, the email "delete" button has been busy with complaints about Wrecked. This is a reality series on SPEED that the network is very high on this year. Wrecked promos feature people towing cars and trucks. No matter what hype the owner or drivers try to add, the bottom line is people are towing stuff.

Saturday on SPEED, primetime is dominated by four episodes of Wrecked going up against the Nationwide race on ESPN. That is a statement about the direction that SPEED is going when it comes to live racing or post-produced reality shows.

What is your opinion of these endless promos? Did the promos help to encourage you to watch these shows and will you be watching the X Games? I have a feeling Darkmane may be showing up on the Nationwide race tonight just a time or two.

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22 comments:

Newracefan said...

Darkmane- Creepy, thank goodness for FF and Mute, and no I will not be watching the X games.

Wrecked- very annoying therefore I will not be watching it either and I watch Deadliest Catch.

Shoving stuff down my throat does not make me want to watch the show more it makes me want to watch it less.

TexasRaceLady said...

I'll have to split my vote ---
49% to Wrecked
51% to Darkmane

I must echo nrf and say that force-feeding me something is the ideal way to turn me against it.

Kenn Fong said...

J. D.,

Thanks for telling me who the costumed creep was. I saw him but just tuned out because any product which has advertising like that is not for me.

By the way, do you think the X-Games and other extreme sports were invented by orthopedic surgeons?

Kenny
Alameda, California

TexasRaceLady said...

By the way, do you think the X-Games and other extreme sports were invented by orthopedic surgeons?

Kenny
Alameda, California


ROTFLMAO

Oh, Kenny, that is priceless.

Kenn Fong said...

TRL,

I'm here all weekend. Try the chicken fajitas. Don't forget to tip your waitress. Thank you very much!

Kenny - Alameda, California

Sophia said...

I will NOT be watching X games..that creepy promo today makes me sick.

I detest the Wrecked Promos but it does reflect the station it's on (SPEED wrecked and killed it's soul spirit of racing with REALITY McTV rubbish)

Oh to have the days of motorsports all week long and DESPAIN in primetime. THe year we ordered digital tv for many stations but ESPECIALLY SPEED, they got rid of WT during the week. Sigh

Anonymous said...

I really have no interest in either of these "shows" I watched Wrecked for a few minutes - it wasn't interesting to me so I switched channels, to those who like it enjoy. The endless promos are annoying.
Darkmane, well thats just a low budget Vader type - and altho' I watch winter x games a bit, I don't watch the summer one at all.
And these promos re enforce the idea that its not very good.

What is the idea behind cramming all these promos, creepy ones at that, on us continually? It doesn't make anyone watch. Good programs get viewers.

Lisa Hogan said...

X-games is the creepier.
Wrecked and X-games are in a tie for annoying.
Have no interest in either program.
These commercial make me leave. Either the room or the channel.

alex said...

Honestly, they were no different to me than any other commercial... Ignore and fast-forward.

I haven't seen the Wrecked commercials, just the promos they pop on the screen during truck races. I'm not sure what's worse, the promos themselves or how excited Rick and Michael are to talk about the show.

stricklinfan82 said...

All I'll say is that this new method of promoting the X-Games is a million times better than last year's method of having Jamie Little talk split-screen to X-Games guys on the entire screen in the middle of a Cup qualifying session at Michigan(?) last year.

Still couldn't care less about either program, just for the record.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what they are trying to accomplish with the Darkmane promos. They're just weird and annoying.

With that said, I'll still be tuning into the X-Games, since it's something I enjoy watching each year.

Vicky D said...

Who wants to look at car accident scenes and that Darkmane, although I have been known to watch other reality shows. So many commercials for Darkmane I want to throw something at my tv.

Anonymous said...

seems to me i've heard this song before . . .

here's the issue: being force-fed this RELENTLESS barrage of commercials for wrecked and x games has turned viewers AWAY from the programs. it's the same complaint that arose over the bill engvall show, saving grace, and the closer: in a word, overkill.

ultimately, it doesn't matter which is creepier as an ad campaign. both campaigns are annoying the viewers and, reading the comments posted so far, i see few comments who are committed to either program. i tried wrecked (against my better judgement) b/c i gave deadliest catch a try and was greatly pleased. wrecked? not so much: i will not watch again.

seems to me one either is already committed to watch x games or not and i doubt ads will sway anyone. at best, the ad campaign will keep the date fresh in those who are fans. and, coincidentally, annoy the crap outta the rest of us! i wonder if x game fans are ok w/this ad campaign or offended?

anon 7:09p? care to elaborate about your feelings as you're the only one so far who has said that the x games are something you watch? what would have made more sense to you as a fan? what does the current campaign say to you? just wonderin'.

Kenn Fong said...

I watch all commercials at least once, since those fine people pay the bills so we can watch the races free.

Speaking of creepy commercials, how about the Planter's Cashews with Ms. Unibrow? And let's not forget that obnoxious little brat, the fake relative of the Wallaces? Just once I'd like to see the Geico Gecko bite his head off.

Kenny - Alameda, California

Anonymous said...

kenny, i'll watch more than once for the same reason. but 15 times? ahhh, nope. i understand it's their programming and they want to promote the crap outta it but after seeing both campaigns repeatedly, i am soooo over this right now.

goodwill only goes so far.

maybe if more than one or two ads were produced? dunno 'cause i've stopped paying attention to them.

Anonymous said...

oops, my mistake, kenn fong: i sincerely apologize for naming you "kenny" in my response to your point. i am sorry.

Newracefan said...

Ken F I agree about the unibrow women she creeps me out really bad and they play that one repeatedly too, I've stopped eating cashews

Anonymous said...

I ignore Darkmane. Annoying and unfunny though. Creepy but not as creepy as that Planter's lady.

Wrecked? Distracting and not appealing.

Just maybe I'll watch the X-Games, but they were better to watch in the 1990's.

Sophia said...

Kenn Fong

I have to second your Plantar's Ms. Unibrow commercial. WTH were they thinking with that one?

Took me awhile to remember the product and CERTAINLY does not make me want to buy their product (Been buying Kroger nuts, lots cheaper, too) But ugh..that woman creeps me out, LOL.

For creepier...I would say X games but chasing car wrecks is just poor taste to me.

Lou said...

Have not watched Wrecked or the X games. The constant repeat of the promos just turn me off. Respect those who do watch though.

Bobby said...

The X Games (which ESPN owns) and even the ArenaBowl (which ESPN owns) are more important than NASCAR. Go figure.

And as we saw last year, Desperate Housewives has the "franchise" tag that was attached that it could bump a Chase race off.

What does this say about Disney "rigging" Indy so that the 500 will always be more important than the 400 and have bigger audiences?

Anonymous said...

Someone needs to get the idea being explained here, that if you annoy the viewers with promos, they will do the opposite of what you want and purposely AVOID your show.

Then stop doing it!