If Tuesday’s Media Day is the unofficial kickoff to the Super Bowl hype machine, then late Friday afternoon on radio row is the end of game kneel-down, a time to hand the ball to the official, saunter into the locker room, take off the pads and shake your head in disbelief as you realize that, yes, we really did spend the last 110 hours analyzing everything from high ankle sprains to low temperatures.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s a glorious all-consuming journey, and one that’s full of surprising candor and unmatched absurdity from the plethora of characters who pop in and out of our lives to share their thoughts via various media outlets. In truth, as much as we might feel like we know the ebb and flow of Super Bowl week PR activations (or as Jerry Rice once called it, “the ebony flow”), there is always something new that reinvigorates us. It’s a lovable circus…kind of like the Kardashians, but the exact opposite (I have no idea what that means).
That’s the backdrop for this week’s chronicling of Super Bowl XLVI in the Catalog. Once again, Catalyst is on-the-ground for the big game, working with multiple client partners and athletes in Indianapolis to tell fresh stories and spending way too much time with each other as we try to bring these programs to life.
Over the next few days, we will do our best to bring you closer to the action and provide insights from our Subway, Under Armour, Timex and Xbox client teams. Our hope is that we create a forum that is not just about us, but is, instead, about what we see that resonates with fans and media.
For me, it all comes down to one question: who will be this year’s The Situation? When America’s favorite bejeweled, bespectacled, behaviorally-inappropriate Garden Stater preened on Radio Row last year (OMG!), it was clear that everyone else was playing for second place. Forget the Packers and Steelers – Mike Sorentino was the king of the Super Bowl. This was the magical moment of Super Bowl XLV. We’re a year older and a year wiser, but something will reawaken the child in us this week, and we’re fortunate to have a front row seat. And thankfully the seat has been sanitized since The Situation left town.
