It’s no secret that we’re pretty rabid Mad Men fans around the TourneyCentral offices. During the first four seasons, Monday mornings usually hosted a lively discussion time as we deconstructed the episode from the previous night. While drinking strong coffee, of course… nothing stronger. Really.
So we’re pretty excited that season five is just a few weeks away on March 25, 2012. Then we found out that Newsweek is publishing its March 19 issue designed like it is 1964 and they are encouraging their advertisers to submit their ads for that issue designed as circa 1964 ads.
And that we could not resist. We’re not advertising in Newsweek but we are running the ad we may have submitted on the front page of our website. Close enough, right?
Unfortunately, soccer in America in the ’60s was almost nonexistent. There were no competitive youth soccer tournaments ads we could look up and model after. But if soccer tournaments advertised in 1964, we think the ad may have looked kinda like this.
We had to keep the dimensions to fit into a website and not a magazine page and language like “click here” would certainly have been odd in 1964, but we think it hits the mark. We hope you agree.
Here is the Mad Men clip that inspired the headline and the copy.
Our Advice: You may not be a Mad Men fan and that’s ok. The show is not for everyone. What we think is important is that you reach out beyond just soccer and connect with the community your event is a part of. For us, it is that cultural world of old-school advertising. For you, it may be your local park district or the arts department at the high school or even a local rock band. When you reach out to the other interests your club teams are involved in, you create good will for your soccer tournament. People see your event as integral to their community.
When you become part of a community, you may find advertisers and sponsors are more likely to support your tournament. Regardless of the financial impact, being part of a larger community is certainly more fun.
And if you are a Mad Men fan, two full hours on March 25th. See you there.