Wild guess: This guy's name will come up.
The brainstorm we tried the other day didn’t pick up much steam, so let’s try another one. Thanks to those who did weigh in on the most marketable athletes, though.
Today’s slideshow topic for blog readers to brainstorm on: The Most Iconic Sports Commercials Ever.
I hadn’t yet heard of “Marvelous” Marv Throneberry before his turn in the 1970s Miller Lite campaign: “I’m kinda worried,” he said, “because if I do for Lite Beer what I did for baseball, I’m afraid their sales might go down.”
Miller Lite was called Lite Beer From Miller back then. It was the first mainstream light beer, so you could just say “Lite Beer” and everyone knew what you meant.
Throneberry, the starting first baseman on the 1962 New York Mets who was legendary for his terrible fielding and baserunning, appeared in many Lite Beer ads, often appearing at the end to say some variation of: “I still don’t know why they asked me to do this commercial.”
That’s my entry. What’s yours?
Update: Here’s the resulting slideshow