Angry commenters hijack UPS blog
A TV commercial depicting an NCAA championship game between Duke and the University of Kentucky angered Kentucky fans, who overran the UPS blog with comments decrying the shipping company.
What happened?
Advertising miscue
The sensation started a few weeks ago when UPS ran a TV advertisement concurrent with the NCAA basketball tournament that tried to connect a pass that won “the greatest game” to its theme of logistical excellence.
In the 1992 game, an underdog University of Kentucky (UK) team known as “The Unforgettables” had pulled ahead by one point in the closing seconds of overtime against Duke, the defending national champion.
With 2.1 seconds left, Duke player Grant Hill threw the ball nearly the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who turned and made the winning shot with no time remaining in the game.
“Everybody remembers the shot. But what about the pass? No pass, no shot,” the narrator says. “You need a special player to get the ball exactly where it needs to be, exactly when it needs to be there.”
An unexpected reaction
Kentucky fans exploded—the most heart-breaking loss in the history of their sports program was now played over and over again as an ad on behalf of a shipping company. To add insult to injury, UPS has major facilities in Kentucky.
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