Benny the Bilge Rat gets antsy a year out from the Nonsense in Naples
Time was when the America’s Cup was so fundamental to the sport that it generated its own publicity. Not anymore. Now that the event is a crass commercial property it has to employ dumbass, ignorant hucksters to hype itself.
Using the scheduled start of the series 12 months from now as their ‘topical’ peg, the PR spruikers have just pushed out a media release full of mindless guff, tired catch-phrases and straight-out crap. Read ’em and weep:
“The clock is ticking relentlessly”
“It’s the moment when the world stops”
“Fans cheering on their team like nothing ever seen before”
“The planning, designing and campaigning comes to a compelling crescendo”
Shall I go on? Oh well, if we must:
“Nathan Outteridge, skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand is already laser focused”
“Grant Dalton, the CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand [says], ‘The critical thing of this year is we’ve got to get faster. So, everything we do now will be very deliberate.’”
Good to know Grant and the boys are doing things deliberately, not just by accident.
Elsewhere, the release repeats the false claim that the AC is:
“The oldest continually contested trophy in the world”
No. it isn’t. As The Bosun pointed out here in May, there are other older events that have been contested “continually”, some of which also have perpetual trophies. In any case, there was no Cup racing between 1851-1870, 1903-1920 and 1937-1958. Continually?
And, of course, it’s always referred to as “The Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Match”. Mustn’t forget to name the sponsor! They’re the suckers paying for our nose candy.
The Rat
