The Boston NWSL team inadvertently outed some players (I guess).
Their advertising campaign was "Too Many Balls". The Trans community is unhappy and the team apologizes
A month after Boston's NWSL expansion team, BOS Nation, launched its brand, the club appears to be considering a name change following a name and brand rollout that was widely criticized.
The team's name and brand rollout came with a "Too Many Balls" marketing campaign featuring cameos from current and former male Boston athletes, including Tom Brady and David Pastrnak, declaring there are "too many balls in this town." The campaign was met with widespread public backlash, including by some who called the messaging transphobic.
In the wake of the announcement and criticism, the team issued a statement saying it "missed the mark" in its brand launch campaign and apologized to the LGBTQ+ community and the trans community more specifically.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5952727/2024/11/27/bos-nation-considers-name-change/
But amid a thoughtful launch party, there was a thoughtless element: fans had been reacting negatively not just to the team's name but to its use of a "Balls Balls Balls" video campaign by local creative ad agency Colossus. The "Balls" ad on its Instagram featured the caption, "Thanks to our brave clients for having the guts to be wildly provocative with this launch."
The Colossus ad also had comments turned off, unlike other posts, presumably due to the volume of negative reactions. Seattle Reign midfielder Quinn, who is trans and nonbinary, had commented on the team's Instagram video earlier that day, saying, "Feels transphobic. Yikes."
"I think there was a lot about the launch that could have been done better, but I think the (Balls) video was really short-sighted," they said. "I wish they had just asked some people, because it is gender essentialism, talking about balls as men's genitals. There are men who don't have balls. There are women who do have balls… It was offensive and hurtful.
comment had been "hidden by Instagram."
Their advertising campaign was "Too Many Balls". The Trans community is unhappy and the team apologizes
A month after Boston's NWSL expansion team, BOS Nation, launched its brand, the club appears to be considering a name change following a name and brand rollout that was widely criticized.
The team's name and brand rollout came with a "Too Many Balls" marketing campaign featuring cameos from current and former male Boston athletes, including Tom Brady and David Pastrnak, declaring there are "too many balls in this town." The campaign was met with widespread public backlash, including by some who called the messaging transphobic.
In the wake of the announcement and criticism, the team issued a statement saying it "missed the mark" in its brand launch campaign and apologized to the LGBTQ+ community and the trans community more specifically.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5952727/2024/11/27/bos-nation-considers-name-change/
But amid a thoughtful launch party, there was a thoughtless element: fans had been reacting negatively not just to the team's name but to its use of a "Balls Balls Balls" video campaign by local creative ad agency Colossus. The "Balls" ad on its Instagram featured the caption, "Thanks to our brave clients for having the guts to be wildly provocative with this launch."
The Colossus ad also had comments turned off, unlike other posts, presumably due to the volume of negative reactions. Seattle Reign midfielder Quinn, who is trans and nonbinary, had commented on the team's Instagram video earlier that day, saying, "Feels transphobic. Yikes."
"I think there was a lot about the launch that could have been done better, but I think the (Balls) video was really short-sighted," they said. "I wish they had just asked some people, because it is gender essentialism, talking about balls as men's genitals. There are men who don't have balls. There are women who do have balls… It was offensive and hurtful.
comment had been "hidden by Instagram."
