A Cajun food products company had a deal with Cox Sports Television to have its logo televised in-game in the red zone during Saints preseason games. Unfortunately, because the Cajun food company in question is called ‘Slap Ya Mama’, the NFL reportedly asked Cox Sports Television to take the ads down due to concerns over the league’s image and domestic violence.
Slap Ya Mama’s communique said the company’s advertising representative — Walker & Sons Inc. — received an email from Cox Media Louisiana Director of Sales Marc Leunissen informing them that “in light of the domestic violence issues facing the NFL, (the league) instructed CST (to) pull the Slap Ya Mama logo from our enhancements in the last (preseason) game,” which is Thursday in New Orleans against Baltimore. Walker & Sons says it believes the NFL told Cox Media to do this Monday.
On Thursday, the NFL sent out a memo to all league teams to announce that the league would ban all virtual signage for the rest of the preseason due to the reasoning that “virtual signage can detract from the game telecast and create a less desirable viewing experience for fans.”
When seeing a giant “SLAP YA MAMA” on a telecast, it’s pretty easy to see why the NFL acted and essentially scrapped the whole practice.
Nevertheless, the vice president of Walker & Sons aren’t very happy about the decision by the NFL:
“We’ve been doing this for three years with no complaints,” Jack D. Walker said. “People who know our brand ‘get it,’ but all of a sudden, after three years, the NFL doesn’t.”
Walker’s statement explained that “Slap Ya Mama” refers to “a loving slap on the back and a kiss on the cheek to your mama as a thank you for preparing another great tasting dish.”
Maybe if that definition was strewn across the field instead of “Slap Ya Mama”, Roger Goodell’s office would have been more lenient.
