New York Knicks Ads Pulled After Poking Fun of Broadway Stars
The New York Knicks have their best start to a season in 13 years with a 3-0 record, but the excitement for the team's improvement may have resulted in a controversial advertisement from MSG Networks that has led to the scrapping of an entire advertising campaign.
Posters were placed around the city from MSG Networks which broadcast Knicks games. However, the posters meant to advertise the team's upcoming games in the 2012-2013 will be taken down according to ESPN reports because of their messages.
"It's Friday night," one advertisement said. "You can either go out and attempt to pick up sixes and sevens or stay home and watch (Knicks guard Jason) Kidd dish out dimes."
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Another advertisement seemed to make fun of the Broadway show "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark" where actors in the play were injured after falling from a 30-foot drop two years ago.
"It's Friday night," the advertisement said. "You can either see a Broadway harness malfunctioning or you can watch real men fly."
The advertisement featuring the face of injured Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire received some backlash from Broadway blogs.
"What does it mean to be a 'real man?' " one person from the theater industry commented in a New York Post report. "[MSG implies] it means being an athlete on the court -- but definitely not being an actor on Broadway . . . Why is Madison Square Garden putting itself in competition with Broadway?"
While Stoudemire and the Knicks reportedly had no involvement with the advertisements, MSG Networks have apologized for the posters around New York City that they said will be taken down.
"The ad was simply bad judgement on our part," an MSG Network representative told the New York Post. "We're in the process of having them immediately removed. We apologize to anyone who was offended."
