This is the time of year when the USTA rolls out commercials for its series of hard-court tournaments leading up to the U.S. Open—better known as the U.S. Open Series. Since the USTA began airing these spots a few years ago, the organization has used different tactics to get fans and non-fans of the sport interested in either attending one of the ten U.S. Open Series events, or tuning in to them on TV.
For instance, the 2008 "Road Trip" series had top players "driving" a tour bus and bantering with John McEnroe. The spots, I guess, were to show how much fun you can have at tennis tournaments because, gosh darn it, tennis players are funny, and that makes for great entertainment for the entire family. (The original spots had featured former player and Tennis Channel commentator Justin Gimelstob as the butt of the jokes, but the USTA reshot the segments with Johnny Mac after Gimelstob got in trouble for saying some rather unflattering things about female tennis players on a Washington radio show.)
Last year, the segments focused on love. Serena Williams expressed her love for her sister Venus using Barbie dolls as props. Before she fell in the rankings, former No. 1 Dinara Safina salivated over her love of chocolate for the camera. Novak Djokovic reminisced about his love of tennis, how it began at age 4 when he took beer to the workmen building three tennis courts near his family's restaurant in Serbia. I guess the point was to show potential ticket buyers and TV audiences that tennis players have a lot of heart and tend to leave theirs out there on the court, which makes for great entertainment for the entire family.
This year, the theme is about players and their hobbies. What does Rafael Nadal do when he's not smashing forehand winners? He makes pasta! How does last year's U.S. Open finalist, Caroline Wozniacki, stay in shape? She hits a punching bag! How do you tell which Bryan brother is which? Don't ask them because even they get confused. Not sure if there is a theme for this year's spots. Maybe it's that players are just like you and me. They have interests beyond their jobs, and those interests add a dimension to the game that makes for great entertainment for the entire family.
Whatever the theme is, the U.S. Open Series spots are fun to watch. And I'm sure they help generate talk about the tournaments and get people pumped up for the Open. But they also remind me that, when it comes to hawking a product, tennis players tend to be the best as far as pro athletes go. Need convincing? Keep reading.
Long before she began shilling insurance for Geico, Billie Jean King was working her persuasive powers for Sunbeam. "When I'm not playing in one tennis tournament, I'm traveling to another. So, I don't have time to fuss with my hair," she said, while in an airplane bathroom I might add. "But with Sunbeam's Mist-Stick Curling Styler, I can curl my hair anywhere—without curlers." The contestants vying for "America's Next Top Model" could learn a thing or two about selling hair-care products watching Billie Jean:
If you're an advertiser, try to get Roger Federer or Andy Roddick for your commercials. Both prove time and time again that they can act as themselves better than any other athletes. In Roddick's case, ad men like to play up the player's self-deprecating humor, like in the spots he did for American Express in 2005. Who can forget his expression when the flight attendant crushes his trophy in the overhead compartment? The kid's a natural! With Federer, the commercials usually center on his superiority over everyone in everything, like in the Nike ads a couple years ago with New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby (The Flight of the Conchords) as Fed's so-called coach:
Yes, Fed can even play air guitar better than anyone else.
Back when Chris Evert was Chris Evert Lloyd, she tried to convince people to drink Lipton Iced Tea Mix during a match. "When I'm working, I make sure I have the best equipment," she said. "The best shoes, the best racquet, and between sets, the best-tasting refreshment I can find." Really? That's the best-tasting refreshment? Well, I'm convinced:
"Hey, I'm vain. Of course I'm vain. That's why I comb my hair the way I do. That's why I play like an animal," Jimmy Connors said in a commercial for Faberge Power Stick in 1992. If that deodorant has enough power to impress an animal like Connors, then I'm sold.
So next time you think image is everything, or you want to make every shot a Powershot, you can thank a tennis player.
—Sarah Thurmond