You can almost see the ad. Maybe it's for fire insurance or the perfect beer, or the perfect...whatever: The sun sets over the Brooklyn Bridge. Umpire Jim Joyce stands on the edge (though that's
actually impossible on the Brooklyn Bridge, but anyway). It appears he is so distraught about the Galarraga call that he has decided to end it all. Just then who should show up but Detroit Tigers
player Armando Galarraga himself. He pats Joyce on the back, tells him that anyone can make an honest mistake. But only (beer brand here) can make a perfect beer. Cut to a bar, where they are
clinking bottles of (beer brand here). Tag: "(beer brand, probably a light beer). The perfect beer. Really."
Okay, maybe not. But if anyone has ever gotten more famous for having defeat
snatched from the jaws of victory its Galarraga. And there's nothing new about athlete spokespeople getting advertising mileage out of their mistakes, odd statements, or odd circumstances. Recall the
recent Hyundai Sonata ad that aired during this year's Super Bowl, in which Brett Favre, now around 60 years old, is dithering about whether he'll retire or not. And there's the recent far less
humorous ad (though there were YouTube parodies) of Tiger Woods staring at the camera listening to his dad.
But what makes this different is the character Galarraga showed and the size of
the media attention, per Jose Villa, president of LA-based market research firm Sensis. "There's a thousand different creative angles here," he says. On is the fact that of the 20 perfect-game
pitchers, only one other – Dennis Martinez – was Hispanic. "The Hispanic community coalesces around its stars," says Villa, noting that, in the weird calculus of sports publicity,
Galarraga may actually be more famous now for almost (officially anyway) having pitched a perfect game than if he actually had done so.
"I think the guy has more PR potential now that this
unique thing happened." He notes that with few exceptions -- Oscar de la Hoya for instance or Sammy Sosa -- country and region defines celebrity in the Hispanic community, but that he might transcend
that regionality, at least for a Warholian moment. "You really don't see many Hispanic sports figures with national reach -- people who have surpassed their ethnic background and become heroes. For
instance there are a lot of Hispanic ball players in New York who are huge in New York, but not nationally. And you see them in regional ads all the time. But Gallaraga he could transcend that because
what happened has been front-page news across all Hispanic media as it was in general market. Everyone knows his name now."