Opinion

DRAGONS BLOG: Best and worst launches

Last week we had a look at some of those NRL ads involving Tina Turner.

So this week here’s a few of the other recent season launches - splitting them up into two of the worst and two of the best.

Lets start off with the worst - neither of which are Thomas Keneally’s Blow that Whistle, Ref ad. I thought it was dumb at the time but, if you read the text of his poem, it’s actually rather inspiring.

One of the worst is 2000’s ad featuring Tom Jones covering the Salt n Pepa song What a Man. The lyrics are awful (undoubtedly written by someone who has no interest in footy), they and the ad are almost totally targeted at the female market (which means it all but ignores its core market - blokes) and it makes rugby league feel like sleazy strip club.

The other shocker is this year’s season launch - an ad that is fancy, arty and flowery - and as dull as dishwater. For a campaign tagged ‘‘Feel alive’’ it’s awfully flat and lifeless. I still don’t get why some NRL ads feel the need to puff things up so much like this.

One of the best is the That’s My Team series. It’s so good the NRL stuck with it for a number of years - and it’s easy to see why. It uses a popular song (with decent lyrics this time) and live and staged images in a mixture that speaks directly to the fans.

Sadly, I couldn’t find the complete footage of what I consider the best ad the NRL has ever done. So I’ve to settle for this snippet from WIN’s Friday Night Football - the ad itself kicks in at about the 48-second mark, so you can fastforward through the endless sponsor logos.

It’s the NRL centenary ad. I remember feeling the hairs stand up on the back of my neck and, yes, my eyes go a bit watery the first time I saw this ad. Each time thereafter, when it came on TV, I’d stop what I was doing and sit and watch in rapt silence.