Upon checking out tonight’s NHL schedule for tonight I came across some big news thanks to the CBS Sports Blog. The big news is that the NHL is bringing back its award-winning ‘History Will Be Made’ ad campaign in time for the 2011 playoffs! This campaign was really effective on its own as it evoked memories of iconic moments of NHL Playoffs’ past. These ads had the effect of emotionally touching NHL fans everywhere and sent chills down our spines. However, what made this campaign (whether the NHL intended this to be or not) so special was truly the fans. An estimated 2,400 fanmade parodies crowded youtube and created a real buzz about the NHL playoffs. This buzz had been missing for a long, long time south of the border. In fact, last year’s playoffs were the most watched in 36 years and I feel a big part of this can be credited to the marketing campaign but even more so to the fans who made these parodies.
The fans worked to capture some of the memorable (and especially not-so-memorable) moments in the NHL’s past and present to the same tune and format as the actual ads. As a die-hard Canucks fan, here is my personal favourite to laugh at (but at the same time still cry over):
(Credit to ebey11 on youtube).
The NHL has changed the format of the ads a bit (new music and text) and I feel this is a brilliant move that is encouraging more parodies as the old format was pobably tapped out last year. They are even making the music available for download on their facebook page so fans can make their own! Heres the first of this year’s model, so put your thinking caps on for parody ideas! The league actually wants to hear them!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5RGnlVPpPI
(Credit to NHLVideo on youtube)