Baseball season is right around the corner. Spring training is wrapping up, and it’s time for the long, summer slog to the World Series.
The Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics begin a two-game series opening the season tomorrow at the Tokyo Dome. A familiar face will be starting in the outfield for the Mariners, becoming the second oldest player to make an Opening Day start at age 45.
Seattle agency Copacino + Fujikado, the long-tenured agency for the team, created a campaign hyping the upcoming season for the Mariners. Ichiro doesn’t make an appearance, but plenty of other (younger) Mariners stars are highlighted.
In “Arts and Crafty,” M’s southpaws Marco Gonzales, Wade LeBlanc and Yusei Kikuchi share their accomplishments. Veteran Felix Hernandez wasn’t invited, however.
Another ad features second baseman Dee Gordon sporting his own pit crew, while center fielder Mallex Smith shows off some impressive wheels of his own—much to third baseman Kyle Seager‘s amazement. Outfielder Mitch Haniger deals with an overenthusiastic fan after making a diving catch into the stands, something he actually did during a spring training game a year ago. All of the ads were shot on location at spring training in Peoria, Ariz., by Blue Goose Productions.
The spots offer a lighthearted reintroduction to the team’s individual personalities ahead of the 2019 season, even if this year’s batch fails to live up to some of the heights of previous entries.
“There’s exciting new energy and great personalities up and down the Mariners roster and that shines through in these four commercials,” Mariners vice president of marketing Gregg Greene said in a statement.
Hope certainly springs eternal up in Seattle—and if a team’s ads determined the world champions, then the Mariners would have an argument. But on the field? A team rebuild may mean a long summer at T-Mobile Field.
Credits:
Executive Creative Director: Mike Hayward
Group Creative Director: Andrew Gall
Senior Art Director: Andy Westbrock
Copywriter: Caroline Henry