r/baseball • u/_HGCenty Seattle Mariners • 11h ago

Players Only Dodgers' Alex Call blasts controversial Sydney Sweeney ad

https://www.thebiglead.com/dodgers-alex-call-sydney-sweeney-novig-commercial-soft-porn/

Since the last post about this got deleted because it contained a X screenshot, hopefully this one actually stays for comment.

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494

u/lilacsmakemesneeze San Diego Padres 11h ago

I’m more frustrated with the Megan Fox Ro Sparks commercials. My 8 yo keeps asking about it and I’m like “it’s medication”.. between that and the gambling commercials, do they realize young kids are watching this garbage? It’s nothing but garbage ads.

208

u/nonresponsive 10h ago edited 9h ago

My real problem is the gambling ads are trying to make it look like a game. The new Lebron ad is really bad. They stuffed a bunch of "famous" people and get everyone smiling, having fun, and playing around. Tellin everyone they gotta be trading and win. It might look harmless, but it's incredibly malicious (edit. insidious).

They're trying to get people, and kids, that gambling is cool. All these famous people do it, so you should too. The Sydney Sweeney ad is dumb, but the goal of these gambling ads is way way worse. And the worst part is, they're not going to be as controversial, because the ads themselves seem so harmless.

45

u/SirDigbyChknCaesar Boston Red Sox • Umpire 10h ago

They're trying to make it seem like the only way to have fun watching sports is to participate by gambling along with it. It's awful.

55

u/lilacsmakemesneeze San Diego Padres 10h ago

I had a convo with my son during the regular season as Kalshi’s sign is behind the batter (Padres) and explaining how bad these companies are. I try to be as transparent as I’m usually fuming about the gambling ads. Did we not learn from all of the stock picker ads and people offing themselves during the Covid robinhood 🚀 days? We don’t need kids thinking this is ok either. The political ads are usually enough for me to mute but you can’t mute soft porn gambling ads.

6

u/Charming_Squirrel_13 7h ago

i work in finance, young people gambling with leverage and options trading is still prevalent and gets a wrap of “not being gambling, it’s investing”. in reality your odds of winning might actually be higher at a casino. 

33

u/NotLozerish Los Angeles Dodgers • Mexico 8h ago

I intern for my school’s athletics department, and I’m not allowed to bet on any sports that have a collegiate program. I can’t bet on MLB because the NCAA has baseball. So I think it’s crazy that all these athletes/people that work in sports are in these commercials promoting gambling.

12

u/CoastalMatchaFreak New York Yankees 7h ago

I think it’s crazy that any athletes shill for these companies knowing that players and their families get online harassment and death threats because of people are pissed at losing money on them, thanks to sports betting. That’s Jeter and the Mannings, though- wave a dollar in front of them and they’ll sign up to make a commercial for whatever you like.

2

u/TheUltimatePunV2 San Diego Padres 10h ago

“Win, win, win, win, win, curve everything else”

1

u/SoCalWhatever 7h ago

There was already a reckoning going on when I was growing up for how tobacco companies deliberately targeted children in advertisements. Feels like gambling companies will go through this same thing if our government ever goes back to governing.

1

u/draw2discard2 5h ago

I thought that hers was probably a gambling ad too...

1

u/uhsiv Chicago White Sox 5h ago

Fuck everyone in that ad, especially LeBron. Literal billionaires are pushing predatory crap

1

u/ScalabrineIsGod Chicago White Sox 4h ago

“Look at Ronald Acuña! He has a bunker under home plate! He’s so quirky, Kalshi’s great. Now gamble.”

106

u/JohnMadden42069 MiLB Pride • MLB Pride 11h ago

They do, they also realize that dudes who need boner pills have a lot more income than children.

80

u/5Point5Hole 10h ago

They don't give a shit about kids

17

u/JohnMadden42069 MiLB Pride • MLB Pride 10h ago

Rightfully so, times are too hard for kids to annoy their parents into buying them a set of Sockem Boppers. 

6

u/huggsypenguinpal Los Angeles Dodgers 10h ago

more fun than a PILLOW FIGHT!!

3

u/EggsDontLieAtNight New York Yankees 6h ago

Gone are the days of turning on your choice of children's cartoon channel and the whole house hears CROSS FIYAAAAAAAAAAA.

30

u/chrisghrobot Atlanta Braves 10h ago

Her ads been everywhere man. Like why is this product about ED so rampant right now lmao

7

u/GluedGlue Detroit Tigers • Portland Pickles 8h ago

I remember quite a few Viagra ads on when I was a young lad.

Old men watch sports. Old men probably have some ED. It is what it is.

7

u/ABSNegativeOne 10h ago

because men get ED, men watch sports.

13

u/chrisghrobot Atlanta Braves 10h ago edited 10h ago

Having ED ads is fine but its the fact its so prevalent, the ad comes on so many times. 

But maybe its cause I also see RO ads alot outside of sports games despite showing no interest in the product or topic at all. 

6

u/ezodochi Chicago White Sox 9h ago

For a serious answer, Ro is a telehealth company that saw the patent for Viagra expire in 2012 and invested money tryna make the cheap alternative not realizing that oh yeah, 7 bazillion other pharamaceutical companies and startups are gonna think and do the exact same thing not to mention for most of the old dudes who need dick pills, they're likely just gonna ask for viagra so they're trying to establish themselves as the alternative to viagra among the 7 million viagra alternative that have hit the market bc they sunk a lot of money into this and revenue isn't what they thought.

14

u/ILoveCornbread420 Los Angeles Dodgers 9h ago

I’d argue that having ads for any type of medication is not fine. It’s actually illegal is almost every country except the U.S.

9

u/General_Mars Philadelphia Phillies 9h ago

This goes back to our lack of socialized Universal Healthcare. Medical discussions should be between patient and doctor and while you should have your awareness raised of certain medications via ads it should be things like the COVID and Flu vaccines everyone is due for (each kills well over 100,000 people each year in the US. All it takes is a bad infection and bad luck or contact with a family member with cancer).

People should be going to the doctor a minimum of 1x/year. A good portion of this country doesn’t or might maybe go once across 25 years.

3

u/Michelanvalo Dumpster Fire 8h ago

Because they're spending money on advertising more than anyone else.

2

u/Apocalympdick MLB Pride • Rome Emperors 7h ago

Very few demographs are more likely to spend money on something, than "men whose dick don't work" are likely to spend money on that.

3

u/beamoflaser Toronto Blue Jays 7h ago

Well you see, when you're going through a zyn tin daily, taking a caffeine/adderall cocktail every morning with a white monster energy pick-me-up after lunch, and gooning to curated AI slop throughout the night to forget about the $2k you just lost on a 8-leg parlay earlier. It can be difficult to get your little guy working properly.

-2

u/mickey-maos Cleveland Guardians 9h ago

From what I understand the youngins are having dick problems

48

u/iamnewtoreddithelpme 11h ago

Yeah my 5 year old was watching when the ad came on. The commercials are better catered to adult swim at 9pm then trying to watch baseball with your kid and start a new generation of fandom.

32

u/bobboman Milwaukee Brewers 11h ago

aint nothing like having to explain ED pills to a kid while watching baseball

3

u/livefreeordont Washington Nationals 8h ago

Americas real favorite past time

3

u/AJTP89 New York Yankees 10h ago

I usually only half pay attention to the ads but the first time I noticed what was going on there I was like wtf is on TV….oh the ED pill ads are getting more obvious about the goal.

9

u/Narcoleptic_247 Milwaukee Brewers 9h ago

I feel like I'm going insane, you can just explain to your kid what it is. We had lewd ads when I was a kid, my parents just explained it to me.

-2

u/lilacsmakemesneeze San Diego Padres 9h ago

I’m not explaining sex to an 8 yo. Let them be naive to these things for a few more years.

2

u/Llovio_cuatro_anos Cuba 8h ago

Americans are so weird about sex

3

u/BusinessWatercrees58 MLB Players Association 7h ago

Yes better to have ignorant children than ruin them with knowledge about the world.

\s if anyone didn't figure that out. Parents should be giving their children proper sex ed on/before 8 years old, def not waiting until "a few years" after. This is how STD's and pregnancies happen.

1

u/lilacsmakemesneeze San Diego Padres 6h ago

I get it for middle school. My kid is still playing with stuffed animals. He’s 8. Both my kids are aware of the correct terminology of their private parts, but I’m not going around showing them sex scenes at this age.

3

u/BusinessWatercrees58 MLB Players Association 6h ago

Yeah I get that. You sound like a fine parent.

Not \s, in case it came off that way

4

u/sandrailproject Los Angeles Dodgers 8h ago

I bring up that point, and I get told I'm supposed to be a better parent. 

3

u/lilacsmakemesneeze San Diego Padres 6h ago

People on here telling me I should tell my kid about sex. Hell no! 6th grade? Yes. 3rd? No!

2

u/bongo1100 9h ago

Are those on the regular broadcasts? I’ve been watching on streaming and assumed it was a streaming ad.

4

u/lilacsmakemesneeze San Diego Padres 9h ago

Yes. I’ve been watching it on cable channels (youtubeTV).

3

u/shit_kitten St. Louis Cardinals 10h ago

My 10 year old daughter is clearly confused how the fuck Megan Fox has that waist and hip combo. So am I.

2

u/brightcoconut097 10h ago

They do but they don’t give a shit.

1

u/FeloniousDrunk101 New York Yankees • MLB Pride 9h ago

I mean my kid can’t watch kore than a few innings because the games are on too late on the East Coast

1

u/kellzone Philadelphia Phillies 4h ago

I remember growing up as a kid in the 1970s and there were tons of beer commercials like the "Less filling! Tastes great!" Miller Lite commercials and the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull, and of course plenty of sex selling product ads, but at least they weren't interrupting during pitches to have a split screen Fanduel or Draft Kings ad.

1

u/Honcho_Rodriguez 4h ago

Reflection of our culture. If you’re worried about that, you are really gonna be shocked about the world he’s gonna grow up in.

2

u/lilacsmakemesneeze San Diego Padres 3h ago

I get it. I’m not giving up shielding him from it while I can. Just didn’t think that primetime baseball would be so problematic. A lot of young kids idolize baseball and watch these games.

1

u/Maddonomics101 Los Angeles Angels 9h ago

It’s also awkward if you’re watching the game in public with strangers or people you just met 

1

u/pardyball Chicago Cubs 10h ago

do they realize young kids are watching this garbage?

That's a feature, not a bug to these corporations.

-3

u/jpotrz Baltimore Orioles 10h ago

Can't imagine having a young kid and watching. it's bad enough watching these ads with my grown son.

Also, hey body is freaking gross. Do people find those "curves" attractive????

0

u/BildingInspecter 8h ago

They're banking on young kids watching.

0

u/BusinessWatercrees58 MLB Players Association 7h ago

Viagra and cialis commercials have been a thing for a while so its not like that's changed. Anyone remember the "viva viva viagra!" commercial and the cialis one with the couple in the bathtub randomly on a hill?