show your inner pirate & Ill send my 4 favs signed #PlunderTheLox shirts! tweet me a pic/vid & include #PlunderTheLox pic.twitter.com/oSvVMkUtFQ
— andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) May 10, 2014
“The lox,” said the reigning National League MVP, “plunder the lox.”
Here are five classic lines from the more than 400 spots that have been shot.
“Hey Mom! I’m done with my segment.”
“Follow me. . . follow me to freedom.”
“I can’t get through the gate, the gate is narrow.”
With those five words, as part of the “Pirates” installment of ESPN’s iconic “This is SportsCenter” ad campaign, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen darn near started a mutiny on the Allegheny.
Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But there’s a movement afoot and fans of the Bucs appear to have lost it over the lox. (Lox is defined as a “kind of brine-cured salmon.”)
With last night’s Sunday Night Baseball game emanating from Pittsburgh for the first time since 1996, ESPN’s marketing mavens flooded the zone with “Plunder the Lox” gold or black t-shirts (with “This is SportsCenter” on the back).
“We’re just happy we’re able to continue to extend the iconic ‘TISC’ campaign with MLB, the Pirates and Andrew McCutchen,” said ESPN’s Vice President, Marketing – Brand Strategy and Expression/Executive Creative Director Jeff Gonyo. “It’s nice to see players and fans utilizing a fun line from the campaign while at the ball park or in speaking about baseball, the Pirates and SportsCenter.”
“We loved [the line] immediately when we read it in the Wieden + Kennedy NY-written script,” said AJ Mazza, ESPN marketing manager. “We’re glad to see it becoming well known and associated with Andrew McCutchen.”
In the spot, East Carolina University’s Pee Dee is the actual plunderer, but it’s McCutchen’s keen eye that spots the lox. The line spawned its own Twitter handle (@PlunderTheLox) and last night it was quite the popular hashtag.
But why lox? Why not ham or roast beef? Why plunder the poor lox?
“It was a breakfast meeting,” Mazza said. “There was lox, bagels and a few cream cheese spreads. Pretty typical breakfast meeting foods!”
