I recently came across a rather depressing story about an actress of sorts who last year put herself up for sale on eBay as a date to the Super Bowl (she's apparently a lifelong Bears fan who couldn't afford a ticket). Sarah Spain received a frenzy of publicity over this stunt, and even though the fine folks at the auction site took down her listing (guess they don't fancy themselves an escort service), she ended up attending the game courtesy of Axe Body Spray who gave her four tickets for her...troubles? Anyway, it probably had nothing to do with her, ahem, let's just say, natural (or perhaps not so natural) gifts.
Spain's shameless self-promotion has also yielded invitations to celebrity parties and bylines on a couple sports fan sites. And of course it's encouraged a few copycats. But primarily it has served to give credence to a loathsome stereotype of female sports fans (and the male sports fans who love 'em). Her supposed fervor seems to have nothing to do with football or any other sport, but everything to do with parties, entertainment gossip, and pictures of her posing with celebrities and wearing tops that are too small for her.
Wouldn't it be nice if free tickets were instead given to four under-privileged teenage girls who won an essay-writing contest about the value of sports, or demonstrated outstanding leadership as athletes? I know, not a great marketing scheme for Axe, but even a cynic could see such a give-away as good P.R. for a company looking to appeal to the softer side of NFL viewers. After all, there are fathers among the die-hard fans, fathers who wouldn't mind accompanying their athlete daughters to the biggest game of the year. So it wouldn't even be just a chick thing. And who knows, maybe those girls could grow up to become the type of people with the confidence and the ability to make their own way to attending the Super Bowl, without selling their natural gifts or their dignity. Crazy, I know, but a girl can dream.
Monday, February 11, 2008
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