Is Authenticity Overlooked?

During media interviews, authenticity and transparency usually win the day — or in the sports world — win the news conference.  We counsel our clients on how to present themselves to the media to ensure the utmost in credibility.

One thing that drives me crazy is the lack of authenticity in TV shows and commercials when it comes to depicting football officials and baseball umpires.  It perpetuates stereotypes.

There’s a commercial for GEICO that has everything wrong about the football ref in the spot.  I understand it’s a satirical setting, but football officials in the position of HL (head linesman) do not wear white hats.  There is never a time when they are standing in the middle of the endzone and at no time does a football official take a rule book onto the field with them.

Anytime I see commercials with softball or baseball umpires, I cringe.  Slow-pitch softball umpires do not wear shin guards, chest protectors and face masks.  They don’t turn their hats backwards, nor do they yell out “Striiiike!!!” when a batter swings and misses at a pitch, even if it is strike three.  In slow-pitch softball, the catchers don’t wear protective equipment either, in fact, they don’t even get into a squat, yet we often see it depicted that way.  It’s as if the producers have never been to a real softball game.

In a world where reality TV has become a legitimate thing, quality control on the authenticity of commercials and TV shows should step-up its game.