MasterCard doesn’t seem to know that hazing isn’t all a matter of yuks. Just this week we have a trial involving Michigan youngsters in which the hazing involved sexual assault. But MasterCard played its master card this week in using Peyton Manning in a debunking commercial in which he makes fun of taping a rookie to a goal post. MasterCard now joins Snapple, Pizza Hut (which pulled its commercial), and ESPN as a corporate sponsor using hazing or hazing-like behaviors to sell a product.
The commercial ends with this Manning line: “No, we don’t do any of that stuff. We’re football players; usually we just tape the smallest guy to the goal posts and call it a day.”
Taking blame for the tasteless commercial, besides Manning, are the following:Â McCann Erickson/New York: Joyce King Thomas EVP, Chief Creative Officer, Matt O’Rourke, Group Creative Director, Mat Bisher, Senior Art Director, Jason Schmall, Senior Copywriter, Julie Andariese VP, Executive Producer.
