ECHL’s Florida Everblades Taunt Visitors Bench With Creative Advertising

One of the things that’s always bugged me about rink board advertising in the NHL is how unoriginal it is. Most companies just stamp their logo on the space they’ve been allotted and call it a day.

But leave it to a company called Boost Creative to get, well, creative:

OK, the guy above the printed skirt lines up perfectly.

That’s the visitors bench at the Germain Arena in Estero, Fla., where the ECHL Kelly Cup champion Florida Everblades play. The image comes to us via Everblades blog Swamp Hockey:

Winning the Kelly Cup has brought many things to Germain Arena, including sponsors. This year’s ice is decorated to the max with sponsorship logos. Some of the dasher board ads are creative and definitely got a laugh from me.

“Visual media is our launch pad,” says the Boost Creative website, and they certainly catch the eye with this emasculating ad, which will remain in place for the entire Everblades season.

Chris Palin, the Everblades’ vice president of sales and marketing, says the team has had one or two complaints about sexism so far. But that’s the nature of advertising on the edge, says Palin.

“You want to evoke emotion, that’s OK. As long as you don’t get a ton of complaints, that’s what it supposed to do.”

Other than that, the reaction has been mostly positive. In the home opener, when the visitors bench appeared on the Jumbotron, the fans went nuts. “It was by far the loudest cheer of the night. It was hilarious.”

There’s more, too: Since the above photo was taken in the preseason, another cheeky ad has gone up behind the visitors bench. It’s for an exterminator:

Thus far, there haven’t been any complaints from the opposition, says Palin. But who cares if they complain? They’re the opposition.

“It’s a little home cooking,” says Palin. “You gotta do whatever you can to keep that home-ice advantage.”

Read More at the Yahoo Sports Puck Daddy Blog.