The Swimmers’ Ear: 8.8.08
Have you seen those 8.8.8 signs around town? The ridiculous Olympic/Speedo/NBC ads? You know, the advertisements with “8.8.8” superimposed over Michael Phelps staring at us, like he’s simultaneously going to shoot lasers from his goggles, save the world from AIDS, and steal Tom Brady’s girlfriend?
Since when did Speedo take marketing hints the The Omen (the horror flick which opened notoriously on 6.6.06)?
If you haven’t seen these 8.8.8 ads, don’t worry, you will. Speedo (as mentioned) has been doing it, NBC too. I suppose it’s to create the “supernatural” feeling, as if Michael Phelps’ 8 Gold Medal Quest is his fate, his life’s only objective, his ultimate destiny. It feels like a marketing executive scheduled the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies to start at 8pm, August 8th, 2008… like someone I’d never want to share a confined elevator with. The guy who stocked up 25 pounds of Slim Jims for Y2K, the guy who actually stayed indoors on 6.6.06.
Spare me the drama.
I admit: the 8.8.8 ads are catchy. Companies hope people remember the date; they’ll tune in and watch at 8pm on August 8th and advertisers can sell all the Charmin, Viagra, and Budweiser they want. But is this going to be a theme now? Major events coinciding with these catchy dates? Will the 2012 Olympics begin on 12/12/12? I’m already sick of the number 8; it feels like 8 sold its copyright to NBC. Then again, NBC already owns the Olympics. I guess numbers are the next logical step. Then letters.
Kidding aside, the 8.8.8 thing I understand. The Phelps association, I don’t. Besides the 8 vegetables in Campbell’s salty red V8 barf-sauce, the 8 worlds in Super Mario Brothers, or the gr8 way to abbreviate text messages, I’m not exactly sure various companies’ marketing geniuses should yet wed Michael Phelps with the number 8.
Or make him their advertising campaign for the 2008 Olympics.
Folks, there’s something wrong with slapping a 22 year-old’s personal hopes and dreams on posters, commercials, and reports. There’s something wrong when some NBC executive walks into a big marketing meeting, slams down a photograph of a 22 year-old kid and exclaims, “Fellas, got ourselves a jackpot!” Does anyone remember July, 1992? Reebok launched a series of advertisements called “Dan vs. Dave,” an eight-month campaign that pinned two Olympic gold-medal-favorites, U.S. decathletes Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson, in a “feud” to be settled at the Barcelona Olympics.
One problem. Dan didn’t qualify.
Don’t worry. Reebok still sold plenty of shoes. And thankfully, O’Brien won Olympic gold in 1996, despite the Reebok fiasco. I wonder if the Reebok marketing guru-in-charge even felt just a smidgen of guilt. You know, after thrusting some kid into the national spotlight and watching him falter. I wonder.
And I see Phelps at these swim meets, like the Long Beach Grand Prix, sometimes brushing people off to warm down, not giving as many interviews as the media wants, talking to his coach instead of talking to the cute girl who wants a new Facebook picture.
And I think: Good.
If the pressure doesn’t get to him, great. Maybe it won’t. But it’s not easy to live in a bubble. And that’s why this weekend will be so interesting.
On Sunday, the New England Patriots are playing for perfection, a 19-0 season. They’ve attributed their success to one common mantra: “One game at a time.” They’ve been on a mission to become the absolute best-ever in sports. Sound like anyone familiar? Look at the Patriots and how they handle expectations, and tell me if it reminds you of someone: the Patriots never prematurely talked of their greatness. The Patriots never talked too much to the media. The Patriots kept their goals private. All like Michael Phelps. 2008 could be a great year for sports; a year we see the best in the history of both team and individual sports. Or maybe not.
I thought about the similarities between the Patriots and Phelps, and about the differences: You haven’t seen a Coke commercial featuring Tom Brady superimposed against the perfect 1972 Miami Dolphins. You haven’t seen Bill Belichick in a Gatorade commercial holding the Lombardi Trophy. And you know why?
Because it hasn’t happened yet. So why do we see Speedo ads donning Phelps and the 8.8.08 – a clear “statement”, intended or otherwise?
Phelps is a professional. Phelps gets money for the ads. Phelps can overcome the pressure; he’s had it his entire career. But, amid the swirling, ravaging comments lately (including doubts, of course, by Thorpe), let’s just take a step back for, oh I don’t know, eight seconds. The guy hasn’t even qualified. This summer, I’d like to watch the Olympic games. Not a Hollywood blockbuster.
After all, 8 is just a number. It comes after seven.
Let’s wait until Phelps gets to seven.
Mike Gustafson is a freelance writer living in LA. He encourages reader emails at mike.gustafson@timedfinals.com. PS: Caught some slack for this one. Of course the Olympic Games opening on 8/8/8 wasn’t the idea by a marketing executive. I mean, if that happened, what’s next–rearranging the scheduling of events? In all seriousness, no offense intended to the Chinese. Unfortunately, the only thing educating Americans about the sacredness of 8 are the Michael Phelps marketing machines.
Comment by PNB
Posted on January 30th, 2008 at 09:39
I think if you researched this topic further you would find that the city of Beijing, and not a marketing executive, chose 8.8.08 as the start of the games, because in China, 8 is considered the luckiest number and thought to mean prosperity and wealth. Therefore, 8 is not “just a number” for the Beijing Organizing Committee or the people of China, nor is 8/8/08 a “catchy date.”
It so happens that Michael Phelps will be swimming 8 events and going for 8 golds, but it’s tough to fault marketers for taking advantage of that and using it to promote the games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture#Eight
Comment by David
Posted on January 30th, 2008 at 10:11
Almost (again, almost) anything that is going to help swimming increase it’s popularity both pre and post-Olympics is good. Even if it’s outr8geous (ouch).
I therefore will let this slide and chalk it up to trying to “build the sport.” After all, even acknowledging that Phelps thrusts others out of the spotlight, he is still the best thing that’s ever happened to swimming in terms of gaining recognition in non-Olympic years.
Comment by Laut
Posted on January 30th, 2008 at 11:13
To echo PNB’s comments, 8 is in fact a very lucky number in China. So much so that the Opening Ceremonies will even begin at…you guessed it…8:08 at night on the 8th.
Comment by Scott
Posted on January 30th, 2008 at 12:17
I hope that we can work to see beyond the details missed and instead notice some great things that this could possibly mean for the sport. This may not have been the intention of this column (it seems), but nonetheless they are evident.
As was pointed out in an email I received earlier and above by PNB, 8 has nothing to do with Michael Phelps or anything American or NBC related in the least. “That date is the product of deep culural relevance to China. Put simply: the number 8 is the number of prosperity in Chinese culture. In Mandarin, the word ‘eight’ rhythms with the word for luck & striking it rich… Or as the case may be, gold. Thus, it is the perfect date & time to begin these Beijing Games.”
With that said, yes, it is a bit of luck (possibly due to this number 8?) that NBC has something relevant to 8 and to the Olympics to market - massively here in the United States. Call a stroke of luck or destiny or whatever - it does not really matter. NBC has received a lot of flack for changes that have been made to the swimming schedule - some rightful, some probably not deserved. At the end of the day, though, it is what it is and NBC has invested massively in this year’s Games (I get excited knowing that they are this year!).
Michael does make a great comment:
“And I see Phelps at these swim meets, like the Long Beach Grand Prix, sometimes brushing people off to warm down, not giving as many interviews as the media wants, talking to his coach instead of talking to the cute girl who wants a new Facebook picture.
And I think: Good.”
Exactly. It does not matter how he is marketed, what the coincidence is, how many medals he “could” win - Phelps has his head on straight and knows what is on the line (up to this point, he has always performed despite intense pressure, and his World Champs performance is evidence).
Frankly, sorry Mike, but no matter what you think (even before he has done it), Phelps is tied to the number 8 - it is the journey that NBC is marketing - the goal, the potential, and the aura around the significance - all of which I feel are intriguing. Whether he does it or not… that has certainly not been proven yet, but isn’t that the fun? Isn’t that what will get people who typically couldn’t care less about our great sport, pay attention, if just for 8-10 days? We couldn’t ask for anything more. As Linkin Park sang in Enth E Nd:
“But in the end, no matter what I pretend
The journey is more important than the end or the start
And what it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard”
I am sure that Phelps is taking this to heart and at the end of the day, no matter what the end result may be, Phelps - I can guarantee - will put on a show… From Trials to Beijing and beyond.
Comment by Michel Angstadt
Posted on January 30th, 2008 at 13:20
Keeping his goals private (as stated in a previous article) means we are not entitled to round out the potential medal tally at 8. Phelps could go for 9 or 10 if his coach and he think it is feasible, which would also allow a bit of slack in case a silver or bronze or DQ happen to occur.
And yes, it will be a matter of taking one race at a time, both at the trials and at the Olympics.
Comment by Dee Dee
Posted on January 30th, 2008 at 22:07
I think most of the point was missed by the people commenting here. I took it as a “what the-h are they doing?”-type deal. And frankly, Scott, I completely (and once again) disagree with your mantra that any publicity is good publicity for the sport. That is extremely elementary and sad.
I think Ryan Lochte said it best (and I paraphrase): I’m sick of being asked what events I’m going to swim in Beijing…let me make the team first.
Comment by Adam
Posted on January 31st, 2008 at 09:22
Can there be debate of how well pieces are written on this site if people are arguing as to the “point” of the article? I think Gus is a fine read. I think the piece definitely smacks of an imitation of Bill Simmons right down to the pithy three sentence closing. But give the guy a break. He’s finding his own style and his influences are showing. I can’t think of a writer whose early work doesn’t.
I can appreciate PNB’s constructive criticism.
As to the media circus, if you don’t pay attention, it goes away like an annoying two year old.
Gus, keep writing. I think everyone likes your style.
Comment by Adam
Posted on February 4th, 2008 at 13:58
God, was it great to watch those pompous stuffed shirts with all the cliches lose yesterday. The Patriots have the best media advisers I have ever seen. It takes a great deal of work to make those guys look like wholesome small town guys rooted in teamwork and blah, blah, blah.
Bellichek = cheat who is probably going to get his for his cheating ways. He’ll deny, deny, deny and ESPN, Bill Simmons and other media outlets with the east coast bias will say the tapings had no benefit. And to the biased, it only matters if the cheating really aids your team . And to the baised, cheating is ok if some of the other teams do it. You’ll hear these arguments very soon. The guy is a cheater. Check out yesterdays comments from Parcells who had him as his defensive co-ordinator for a superbowl champion.
Brady = His interview with 60 minutes said it all. He plays the “aw, shucks” wholesome guy. He’s humble, just wants to win, respects the game, and blah, blah blah. Watch his face when they ask about marriage and his kid out of wedlock. Kind of hard to play humble when you’re gallivanting with supermodels on red carpets. Kind of hard to be the wholesome guy backing President Bush and the rest of the family values leaders in the Grand Old Party when you’re knocking up supermodels out of wedlock.
Randy Moss = Quit on every team he’s played for. Didn’t he drive with a security person on his car roof because he didn’t think he should be bothered? Didn’t he admit to not giving much effort if he doesn’t feel it? Just an all around jackass. Always has been.
Unless Mr. Phelps is a complete media creation and his media advisers are leading us down the primrose path, I think it is very wrong to compare him with the Patriots. I never saw Phelps intentionally try to be disrespectful of another swimmer in the way the Patriots ran up the score. There is no proof that Phelps has ever cheated. And it looks like those wholesome, team oriented Patriots are going to have to answer for some videos that are soon to come out (’02 Rams Superbowl).
If their only link is that they both want perfection and want to be the best, please show me some world class swimmers who don’t want a perfect race and don’t dream of being the best. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s wise to compare swimming to the NFL. Apples and Oranges. At least I hope it’s that different.
Comment by fluffy
Posted on February 4th, 2008 at 19:34
to me the main difference to watching elite swimming and the superbowl is-
here is the fact i am an alien. when a fast heat of 500 1000 or 1500 frestyle is on, i guess its just so rare in my world, but i’m on the edge of my seat just staring in awe wishing to catch a clue. when football is on. i mainly daydream or turn the channel.
Comment by PNB
Posted on February 6th, 2008 at 08:24
Better late than never, but if you’re really going to give the Patriots a pat on the back for not “prematurely talking about their greatness,” you might want to take a look at this. Granted, it wasn’t written by the team, but you’ve got to assume they approved it at some point (before the Super Bowl). In fact I’d bet they had more to do with this book than Phelps did with coming up with the Speedo ad campaign.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d806554de&template=without-video&confirm=true
Comment by Gus
Posted on February 6th, 2008 at 08:50
Speedo shouldn’t exploit Phelps’ potential 8 golds the same way others shouldn’t write a premature 19-0 Pats book the same way Reebok shouldn’t air a multi-commercial Dan vs. Dave campaign. Let the guys qualify first. Let the Pats go undefeated first. Let Phelps win 7 golds first. The Pats messed up. Dan messed up. Let’s hope Phelps (re: his approval of the Speedo ads) gets it done at Trials and beyond.
Comment by fluffy
Posted on February 6th, 2008 at 21:22
back in 2000 an awesome american gymnast was vanessa atler. reeses peanut butter cup made an add using her. then she slipped in trials and didn’t make the games. all i could think watching the floor routines was she kicks these guys butts… sort of makes me bitter about the concept of setting a goal on making the olympics. at least with swimming there is then the chance to set things straight by time at another meet.