Letters to the Editor: The hidden tax of corporate naming rights like ‘Kia Forum’

To the editor: It is not only the odd and unrelated names that now proliferate in public venues, as columnist Nicholas Goldberg writes; it also is the fact that the large sums being paid for these naming rights are coming from the public, in the form of the purchase price for the products sold by the sponsors.

Look on the front page of The Times’ sports section, and you can see the Nike “swoosh” on Dodger uniforms. That is because Nike paid $1 billion for the right to put its logo on the front of every Major League Baseball player’s jersey.

Whether attending a sporting event or buying shoes or some other product, you are paying for that vendor’s advertising. And when you watch the Dodgers or any professional baseball or football game on TV, you are further subjected to advertising that consumes about 25% of the entire playing time.

Do a search on Google. Never mind, I won’t go there. You probably already know ads related to any product you searched for will haunt you forever.

America is choking on advertising on your computer, your TV, entertainment venues and junk mail.

Don Tonty, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I would not be surprised if the next shoe to drop will be private automobiles with naming rights or advertisements.

Companies would be happy to make monthly payments to car owners for the advertisements on their vehicles. People are willing to debase their cars for income. Soon, race car look-alikes will be roaming our streets.

The worst is yet to come.

Marlon Branton, Rancho Santa Margarita