Over the weekend I, perhaps, watched a little too much MLB.TV to celebrate the start of Spring Training games – and it was more than a little stressful. Sure, baseball announcers get on my nerves and I get stressed out when they mispronounce guys’ names. It also drives me crazy when they can’t be bothered to tell me who on the visiting team is batting and can’t get the graphics right.
But the most annoying thing of all was those “Baseball Zen” commercials. There seem to be more of them this year (not selling enough ads, MLB?) and they really, really amp up my anxiety. To me, they are the opposite of zen.
So, naturally, I turned to the internet to see if I was the only one feeling this way. There are a lot of opinions on either side of the issue on Twitter, which I suppose is kind of the point – creating social media buzz is often the point of any good advertising campaign. I also found that someone on Reddit asked the question, “Baseball Zen? Whose idea was this?” but the responses seemed mostly positive.
Aside from the handful of people Twitter and Reddit, I’m not sure anyone else really cares that much. I really only found two articles from mainstream media talking about the ads and both were pretty positive:
- Deadspin, “Baseball Zen is the rare case of MLB doing something right”
- Bally Sports, “The magic behind MLB.TV’s ‘Baseball Zen’ videos”
The psychology of it might explain differing reactions. Not long ago there were a lot of opinions about ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response). Some folks embraced its calming aspects, while a few others (like me) found it cringeful. Kinda like how I feel about those stupid Baseball Zen spots.
However, when it comes to Baseball Zen, I fear I may be one of the few that finds those spots to be stressful. Well, me and this person:
How do you feel about the “Baseball Zen” ads?
~ baseballrebecca
The Baseball Sociologist 