The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens have the oldest, and arguably fiercest, rivalry in the NHL. So to celebrate the two teams meeting in the NHL season opener this year, MacLaren McCann and Mastercard invited fans to submit their best heckles on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. They then took these messages and delivered them, via barbershop quartet.
During opening night on October 1st, over the course of eight hours, 56 heckling videos were shared, each dedicated to the user who submitted the message. The campaign was a hit, with over 4.3 million Twitter impressions and over 17,000 social engagements. While the idea behind the campaign is kind of interesting in theory, the execution suffers from a loose definition of “heckling.” Case in point can be viewed in the above video: “OMG, can’t sit down to study. So pumped for tonight.” is decidedly not a heckle. The problem with this idea is that its entertainment value increases with the meanness of the heckling. But for obvious reasons, Mastercard and MacLaren McCann wanted to keep things family friendly. What we’re left with too often is a barbershop cheerleading squad, considerably lamer than a heckling barbershop quartet. It almost feels like a bait-and-switch. Check out a couple of our favorites, along with credits, after the jump. And feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section.