Mad Props

It's things like this that lead to Christian Bale-scale meltdowns.

KJ and I have been working on a new ad concept, promoting the Grub Club (free food, $50 in savings, etc.). I thought it would be appealing/interesting/eye-catching to set up some food on and around home plate, as opposed to a dinner plate -- creating a picture of a meal with a subtle baseball element incorporated. Pretty good, right? OK, so now all we have to do is get our props together, and set up the shot.

Not as easy as it sounds.

To start with, home plate has been stolen ahem, misplaced. Not the one on the field, but the spare one we have that we were planning to use indoors. But it's like minus-10 degrees outside with the wind, so we switch to one of the little collectible replicas they sell in the team store.

Next, the food. The kitchen has been closed for some time now, so we need to venture out into the real world to buy food items that you can get here during the summer. The hot dog and soda were easy. The ice cream was a bit more challenging, but we found some. Then, the chips. We work with a specific vendor for the chips in the ballpark, so any old bag wouldn't do. It had to be Utz (which, incidentally is the best, anyway). After three stops -- involving a half-hour's worth of trips into the bitter cold, arguments with deli clerks, and a near-miss in the parking lot -- we finally found the right bag. OK, mission accomplished. Finally. We head back to the park, and set up the photo shoot in conference room.

And that's when Steve walks in.

Steve: "What's this going to look like in the ad?"
Me (still flustered and frustrated from my last 30 minutes): "Pretty much like what you're looking at, since we'll just be taking a picture of it."

I kid you not, as we had this two-sentence conversation, Steve -- almost as if by muscle memory alone -- ripped open the bag and started eating the chips.

Me (horrified): "Um, that's probably not going to be a great-looking prop anymore, now that you've torn into it.
Steve (with Sour Cream & Onion chips still on his lips): "Oooooh. Sorry. I didn't even realize that. Makes for a good story, though, huh?"

Sometimes you just have to laugh, right? Either that, or go on a profanity-laced rampage that winds up being mocked, reenacted, and viewed or listened to millions of times on TMZ or YouTube.

Anyway, we improvised on the chips, and got the shot...and it does make for a good story.

Look for the ad in the paper in the coming days, and check out the Grub Club offer. Five games, with over $10 of free food at each game! It's really a great deal!

-- Dave

UPDATE: The picture turned out pretty well. You can see it here. The food, however, was left out on the table overnight (my fault), and became a topic of conversation in the conference room this afternoon, until Ricky finally went ahead and ate the three-day-old hot dog, then dipped the two-day old sour cream & onion chips in the two-day old melted ice cream and ate that for dessert. And no one put him up to this, mind you. He just did it. The man has problems.