French Open: NBC Mocked Over Intrusive Jersey Mike's Ad
Not Very French
So American, so superficial, so poor, so vulgar.
— rnw_ch (@rnw_ch) June 5, 2022
Zero chance the French would eat jersey mikes. France produces some the best food in the world, I guarantee a American sub company would not meet the standard.
— Erik O'Reilly (@ErikOReilly1) June 5, 2022
For one thing, commenters felt like this ad was in direct opposition to French culture at large.
Relatable
that said: I do think tennis leaned into the luxe brand thing far too hard -- fancy cars/fashion/banks -- not best way to mainstream a sport with an elitist vibe.
— Jason Gay (@jasongay) June 5, 2022
Jersey Mike's is elite though
— Certified Spirit Detective (@sbnumbah1) June 5, 2022
On the other hand, some viewers felt like Jersey Mikes was at least a better advertising option than some of the other sponsors tennis has taken in the last few years. They hoped this would help make the sport more mainstream and relatable.
Clay
For the taste of clay, think Jersey Mike’s. https://t.co/vLzqAUbE4R
— Phil Rosenthal (@phil_rosenthal) June 5, 2022
Users also joked about the optics of printing a food logo onto clay.
Target Audience
I want to talk to the sponsorship team over at NBC… what percentage of the French Open/tennis enthusiast crowd do you think would be caught dead at a Jersey Mike’s?
— Amélie (@likethemovie19) June 5, 2022
I am SO confused about why there is Jersey Mike’s ad placement on the court for this RG mens final.
— Naomi Ramble (@audaciTAY) June 5, 2022
Some fans assumed that tennis fans are generally health-conscious, and therefore not interested in fast food.
Wanda Sykes
Saw it and kept waiting to see it again to confirm I hadn’t imagined it but nope.
— Lady by the Lake (@LakeCormorant) June 5, 2022
Wanda Sykes was watching live and she held a lively discussion about this advertisement on Twitter. She and many of her followers did a double-take, assuming they must have imagined the logo.
Commitment
If Jersey Mike’s wants to sponsor the French open, they’ve gotta convince someone at Rolland-Garros to actually etch that bad boy into the clay.
None of this weaksauce CGI nonsense like it’s, idk, the NHL or something https://t.co/XApgEyTlfu
— Jake Lahut (@JakeLahut) June 5, 2022
Fans joked that they would have respected this effort more if Jersey Mike's had shown the commitment to pay for an in-person graphic, not a CGI add-on.
Tennis HQ
going down to my local jersey mike’s, asking everyone what they thought of rafa’s service game today https://t.co/QuTb0WJ3dF
— Benjamin Freed (@brfreed) June 5, 2022
Finally, many fans joked that they would now be assuming that every Jersey Mike's restaurant was full of other tennis aficionados like themselves.