Sunday night’s NBA finals ushered in the end of a championship drought in the city of Cleveland. It also marked the end of an ad agencies clever mockery of the cities sports.
Cleveland Business Drops Infamous Jersey
Monday morning after the Cleveland Cavaliers victory, advertising agency Brokaw Inc. announced that they would wave goodbye to one of the cities most famous internet symbols. A window display containing a Cleveland Browns jersey that listed each one of the teams lackluster quarterbacks since the franchise rebirth in 1999. The jersey fueled internet trolls to mock the city of Cleveland and its abysmal sports history.
Bye bye bad juju. It's a new day in Cleveland. #RIPTheJersey pic.twitter.com/Yi5OM44Ryo
— Brokaw (@BrokawInc) June 20, 2016
“It’s a new day in Cleveland. We want to be a part of that. Not exactly how we planned it. But after last night’s historic performance, we realized all negative energy and bad juju should be eliminated from The Land,” said Tim Brokaw, the leader of Brokaw Inc., when asked by ESPN.
While it may be a new day for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Cleveland Browns are a whole other story.
The infamous jersey had 24 names from the beginning with Tim Couch all the way through Johnny Manziel. Upon the departure of each failed quarterback, Brokaw and his team would tear off another piece of tape and add it to the jersey. Now we will never know if Robert Griffin III or Josh McCown will join the list.
Brokaw Inc isn’t the first business to become a beneficiary of the misfortunes of an areas sports team, however they are the most clever. In 2002, the Washington Wild Things, a Frontier League baseball team based in Washington, Pennsylvania team began play. They enjoyed startup success as they offered distraught Pittsburgh Pirates fan an opportunity to watch winning baseball, since the Pirates hadn’t made the playoffs since 1992.
Luckily for Brokaw Inc. business might start booming after the Cavaliers won their first title. Merchandise sales in the 24 hours after the Cavs won were double that of the Golden State Warriors last year. That money may also turn into clever advertising dollars as well.
