Oh, What a Tangled Web

Thanks to irate baseball fans who rose in protest, “Spider-Man” was thrown out before reaching first base. Now, if only the rest of the advertising world’s irritants could be disposed of so quickly. What say we start with telemarketing pitches, shrill political campaign ads that make the rest of commercial fare seem high-brow, and increasingly obnoxious messages cluttering up Internet mailboxes?

The cash-conscious decision to turn infields into billboards by putting ads for the summer movie sequel “Spider-Man 2” on the bases in major league ballparks turned out to be a huge error because baseball executives’ run for easy money ignored a key reality: The customer is always right. Major League Baseball previously had alienated purists by allowing a photocopier company to slap its logo on uniforms and batting helmets worn by the New York Yankees during their season opener, played in Japan.

Those who have attended a professional sports match lately shouldn’t have been surprised by baseball’s actions. As with NBA arenas and NFL stadiums, the advertising in ballparks is spilling off the billboards and onto promotional eyeshades, foam fingers, bobble heads, noise sticks and, lest we forget, such trinkets as the Jose Cuervo tequila rally beads that Angel fans were handed Wednesday night to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The “Spider-Man” marketing gimmick was just the latest extension of an advertising industry web that threatens to overwhelm consumers, who are being hit with thousands of messages every day -- including those on the clothing of PGA golfers, who increasingly resemble logo-clad NASCAR drivers. Professional jockeys, meanwhile, are selling ad space on their britches and saddlecloths.

The advertising assault extends far beyond what’s evident in the sports marketing arena. Aware that tech-savvy consumers are using new devices to bypass traditional television commercials, advertisers are resorting to product placements that transform sitcoms and movies into never-ending commercials. Google has upped the online advertising ante with plans to stuff tailor-made advertisements into consumers’ supposedly private e-mail. Big corporations are sharing customers’ private financial data with subsidiaries or selling it to the highest bidder. And baseball would have been willing to sell its soul for what amounted to $50,000 per franchise. The saving grace was baseball’s strident fans, who stood up to say “enough is enough.”