New Era Brings Celeb Trash-Talk to Chicago’s Crosstown Rivalry

By Bob Marshall 

Last year, New Era delighted with a round of spots that featured Boston Red Sox fan John Krasinski and New York Yankees fan Alec Baldwin trading jabs in support of their respective teams. Donning New Era’s on-field hats, the campaign (created by agency Brooklyn Brothers) ran over the course of the 2011 MLB regular season, culminating in Baldwin’s “character” accidentally committing an act of arson after taunting Krasinski by burning a stack of Sox tickets.

This time around, New Era is focusing on a different baseball rivalry, casting two more members of the NBC Thursday night comedy lineup in starring roles. Written and produced by the team at Funny or Die, “Chicago vs. Chicago: Round 1” finds Cubs supporter Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation) trash-talking with Southside native and White Sox fan, Craig Robinson (Darryl Philbin of The Office). Debuting today, the 60-second cut focuses on, among other things, Wrigley Field’s famous foliage, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to sell off President Obama’s vacant senate seat, and whether or not “havetalent” is one word.

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And, for the record, you CAN get good pizza north of Division St. No; Gino’s East doesn’t count. Read an interview with Offerman and Robinson discussing the spot and their history with Chicago baseball here.

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