local media

I don't think this became widely-circulated until last Wednesday or so, but I've heard that Jay Leno ran it on his show Friday, which means it's no longer fresh webjunk. Making fun of local TV commercials is far too easy and making fun of local TV commercials featuring athletes is easier yet, but this one still turns the hilarity up to eleven. The galling lack of media savvy on display here is part of what I really love about hockey players in particular and the NHL generally; athletes in sports that are plugged into the hype machine would have handlers, managers and drama coaches to ensure that a train wreck like this wouldn't happen.

Or maybe it isn't such a train wreck. I almost think Colby Armstrong (speaker #1, for the nonfan) is trying to see how purposefully bad he can say his line, figuring that he's still bound to come off better than Sergei Gonchar (speaker #3), whose line is still almost completely inscrutable to me, even after ten views of the commercial. Maxim Talbot (speaker #2) was having a lot of fun on the client's dime. I figure the admaker decided star power was preferable to a basic command of English when they decided to give Evgeni Malkin a cameo. The poor guy's uncomfortable speaking to the media other than through an interpreter, so he's left without anything to do but smile, remain mute and catch the keys.