Still looking for a hero

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has just finished producing the second phase print ad portion of its multi-media "Looking for a Hero?" ad campaign. The campaign is the largest of its kind in tour history.

As readers of this blog know, I have mixed feelings about the campaign. First, I object to sports achievers being called "heroes." Eve Ensler and Wangari Muta Maathai and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem are heroes. Being "brave" on a tennis court does not require the kind of courage that involves taking personal risk for the good of the world.

I also didn't care for the voice-0ver on the television spots, and found the spots themselves good enough, but not that creative. What I do like is that the tour is heavily promoting women's tennis. And while I think it is fine to promote the players as having lives off the court, I do hope that it is life on the court that is emphasized, and that life off the court is not sexualized. Good luck with that, I'm sure.

Of course, the whole concept of players being actual "heroes" off the court is still ironically tainted by the Dubai affair.