NFL announcers call Surface "iPad like devices"

[Rogifan]

Microsoft has obviously paid big bucks to have the Surface everywhere. In studio there's a big Microsoft Surface logo on the kickstand and all the benches on the field have big Surface logos on them as well. It's just over the top and in your face. What's hilarious though is all the TV announcers keep referring to them as "iPad like devices". Can you say marketing fail?

 

[willmtaylor]

Microsoft has obviously paid big bucks to have the Surface everywhere. In studio there's a big Microsoft Surface logo on the kickstand and all the benches on the field have big Surface logos on them as well. It's just over the top and in your face. What's hilarious though is all the TV announcers keep referring to them as "iPad like devices". Can you say marketing fail?

I do believe it has just about become a Proprietary Eponym:
E.g. Frisbee. Yo-yo. Jacuzzi. Kleenex. Band-Aid. Escalator. Jello. Etc.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I bet they all own iPads too.

 

[willmtaylor]

I bet they all own iPads too.

But my favorite are when Samsung/Windows Phone paid endorsers get caught in the wild with their iDevices.

 

[maflynn]

I heard that as well, kind of funny, but not everyone is as technically informed as MacRumor members. iPad is the major player so they probably can't help but call it that.

 

[Rogifan]

I heard that as well, kind of funny, but not everyone is as technically informed as MacRumor members. iPad is the major player so they probably can't help but call it that.

It's so obvious this is paid product placement. I heard Microsoft spent $400M on this. Watching the guys in studio yesterday not one of them ever used their surface while on air. It was clearly just a prop. This year Microsoft even created a blue case so the white Microsoft Surface logo would be staring you in the face while JB and the boys on Fox are chatting away.

 

[maflynn]

It's so obvious this is paid product placement.

Completely, MS is doing all it can to show that they have a better tablet. I don't know how its working for the NFL, but MS is pouring a lot of money to get them to use it.

 

[Tomorrow]

I don't see the problem; as far as I can tell, the Surface is "iPad-like."

 

[rdowns]

I don't see the problem; as far as I can tell, the Surface is "iPad-like."

The problem is paying the NFL untold millions to use your product and buy sponsorship and then having your on-air talent describe it using a competitor's name.

 

[MacNut]

The problem is paying the NFL untold millions to use your product and buy sponsorship and then having your on-air talent describe it using a competitor's name.

Guarantee that the league told all the networks not to call them iPads, after Microsoft made a few phone calls.

 

[LethalWolfe]

It's so obvious this is paid product placement. I heard Microsoft spent $400M on this. Watching the guys in studio yesterday not one of them ever used their surface while on air. It was clearly just a prop. This year Microsoft even created a blue case so the white Microsoft Surface logo would be staring you in the face while JB and the boys on Fox are chatting away.

Of course it's paid product placement. The NFL is a major brand in and of itself that pulls in a massive number of viewers and dozens of other companies want pay to get in on that action. Gatorade, GM, Visa, Riddell, Papa Johns, Bose, Nike, FedEx, Verizon all pay money so they can be directly associated with the NFL (not to mention all the corporate naming of stadiums).

MS is the official sideline technology partner (or some weird title like that) and teams are using the Surface Pro on the sidelines to do things like analyze plays instead of printing off pictures. I'm not surprised part of the deal was to get their tablets into the studios too since there's not many shots during a game where we'll see players/coaches using the Surface's on the sidelines (unlike, say, the new headphone/headset sponsor Bose which gets ample logo time anytime a coach is on screen).

 

[Tomorrow]

The problem is paying the NFL untold millions to use your product and buy sponsorship and then having your on-air talent describe it using a competitor's name.

I don't see even that as being a problem. Plenty of advertising methods compare the product in question to "Brand X" or "The Leading Brand," often mentioning the product by name.

Even Microsoft has been running commercials showing how much better a Surface is than a MacBook Air, even showing the Air side-by-side on screen with the Surface.

 

[willmtaylor]

...I'm not surprised part of the deal was to get their tablets into the studios too since there's not many shots during a game where we'll see players/coaches using the Surface's on the sidelines (unlike, say, the new headphone/headset sponsor Bose which gets ample logo time anytime a coach is on screen).

I too noticed that Bose seems to have struck a deal in the offseason.