Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and its ad agency
Copacino+Fujikado recently kicked off the team’s 2017 ad campaign for the upcoming season. And the team soon found itself in a social media spat with one of its biggest rivals, the Oakland
A’s.
Part of the campaign showcases what the team and many fans call “Felix Day,” which celebrates every fifth game when the
team’s pitching ace Felix Hernandez is scheduled to be on the mound. One scene in the “Felix Day” spot shows a man presenting his girlfriend with a ring adorned with what looks like
the stitching on a baseball to commemorate the occasion.
The spot ends with Hernandez striking out an A’s player and the Mariners catcher then handing the player a giant
“K” (baseballese for strikeout) balloon and wishing him, “happy Felix Day, buddy.”
The A’s didn’t take too kindly to the ad, responding via Twitter,
“Congratulations on inventing a day so that you could finally get a ring," taunting Seattle's inability so far in its history to win a World Series.
The tweet resulted in
back-and-forth trash talking between the two teams with Seattle asserting that they are focused on the future—and winning a championship-- and not on the past.
The Mariners new ad
campaign also features spots featuring other team standouts including Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager.
“Our fans look forward to
the commercials each spring and the players do a fantastic job bringing the concepts to life," says Kevin Martinez, VP marketing, Copacino+Fujikado, adding that the team was the agency's inaugural
client 21 years ago.