Baseball Fans Weren't Pleased About An Immersive House Of The Dragon Promo That Aired During A Playoff Game
During the 1992 film "A League Of Their Own," Tom Hanks famously deemed that baseball has no crying. But nothing was ever said about gimmicky promotions. It's not uncommon for some of the biggest commercials or unique advertisements to run during major sports broadcasts. For some viewers, watching commercials during the Super Bowl is arguably as big a deal as the championship game itself. With that said, there are occasions when promos can easily veer into strange territory. That seemed to be the case during an MLB playoff game on October 11, 2022, between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.
Per the Twitter account of Awful Announcing, longtime sports announcer Bob Costas and Turner Sports sportscaster Lauren Shehadi delivered a bizarre promo that involves a giant CGI dragon flying over the field. The dragon's appearance is met to tie into HBO's "House of the Dragon." Costas and Shehadi present the entire promo deadpan, as the beginning feels more like an actual news report despite the visiting star from "House of the Dragon" being one of the flying, fire-breathing creatures. The broadcast ad did manage to heat up some baseball fans, but just not in the way Warner Bros. Discovery probably hoped. On Twitter, some fans expressed how they weren't pleased about that immersive "House of the Dragon" promo.
Baseball fans didn't pull any punches
There's much that people could criticize when it comes to that immersive "House of the Dragon" promo. After all, some baseball fans on Twitter harshly said they weren't impressed by it. Honestly, the promo is kind of an easy target. For example, the quality of the CGI isn't exactly up to the visual standards of the dark fantasy drama. And the timing feels a bit off when keeping in mind that the show is already eight episodes deep in its 1st season. But some fans took umbrage with the promo pulling in Bob Costas and Lauren Shehadi. @McGive_It_To_Me posted, "I am embarrassed for all involved that had to do that live ad for 'House of the Dragons' on the baseball broadcast."
That's an understandable criticism of the promo because Costas and Shehadi are both seasoned and professional sportscasters having to take part in an arguably cringey moment for the sport. It doesn't help that portions of their delivery during the promo sound like a genuine broadcast of hard news before delving into the outlandish hook. It brings to mind Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" broadcast, which Costas even references. It's a case of two serious broadcasters having to follow the orders of their bosses from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Still, as another fan noted, maybe it would have been better if the company chose a better place for that ad instead of an MLB playoff game. As @ZachMorrison18 wrote, "TBS. STOP IT. That 'House Of The Dragon' integrated marketing nonsense was silly at best and embarrassing at worst. Save that for morning news. This is baseball."
"House of the Dragon" at least started immensely strong, with its premiere generating huge numbers. However, we wonder if this ad signifies that Warner Bros. Discovery thinks viewership isn't looking as hot lately.