http://kentsterling.com/2010/09/14/indiana-pacers-what-is-the-promise/ Like clubbing a baby seal, being cynical about the Indiana Pacers isn’t a lot of fun. Remembering a time when listening or watching a Pacers game was an appointment worth making is like reminiscing about a suddenly slowing grandparent. Each year, the Pacers trot out a marketing campaign designed to convince fans that this year will be different. A couple of years ago, I think, it was “Believe”. Well, anyone who brought in didn’t for too long. This year, the billboards read “Passion. Pride. New Promise”. The first rule of marketing is to tell the truth, but that goes out the window if the product is not so good. No one throws up a billboard that reads, “New Year, Same Shit!” While that would be funny, and the advertiser would earn points for honesty, it probably wouldn’t prompt people to use the product. Digging deeper into the Pacers new marketing campaign on their website, there is another slogan, “Protect the Promise”. There are pictures of five Pacers – Paul George, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, and Darren Collison – and upon clicking their image, you get to read their promise. I would prefer to see a video of them making their promise, because frankly, I don’t believe these promises were made by anyone other than a guy or girl in the Pacers marketing department. Hibbert and Hansbrough’s promises are eerily similar. Hibbert’s in part is, “…we’re ready to protect the promise to our fans of making every game a great experience.” Hansbrough, “I’m excited to protect the promise by giving Pacers fans a great experience every game.” Maybe Roy and Tyler collaborated on their answer. Then, the Pacers did something very smart. Instead of allowing fans the freedom to craft their own promise, which might have resulted in some more creative, but decidedly less positive free-form promise of their own, fans are encouraged to select promises written by a franchise hoping to sell a few extra tickets like, “Bring my kids to a few games per month”, “Paint my face every game”, “Bring a friend to a Pacers game who has never attended a game”, “Bring a date to a game after dinner” (why it needs to be after dinner is anyone’s guess), “Attend more than ten games this season”, “I will watch every away game on TV”, “Hold one office outing at a Pacers game”, “Wear my Pacers jersey to work on Fridays” (presumably over their Colts jersey), “Take a client to a Pacers game once per month”, and “Bring my church/youth/scout group to a game”...
