When ads started appearing on front pages the journalism world gasped. Now it's common to see advertisements not only on the front page, but above the flag on the front page. Yikes. Well, here's a new one: advertising actually on the reporters and photographers. Newspapers haven't started doing this — yet — thus making them way behind the times compared to NASCAR and the NFL. For the Super Bowl last February, word on the street is (I didn't shoot the Super Bowl) that the NFL required all credentialed photographers to wear neon vests to identify them on the field. Makes sense: color code everyone so its easier to see when someone doesn't belong. Here's the catch, though, the vests had room for advertising space … from Canon, makers of fine camera and copier equipment. Keep in mind, every photographer in the entire universe is either shooting Canon or Nikon. They're like Pepsi and Coke: you love one and the other you hate. So wearing Canon for a Nikon guy/gal is hard to deal with.
Fast forward to this weekend: NASCAR is at Phoenix International Raceway. To get the credentials that allow photographers to shoot from the best positions they have to wear a special vest, which Kodak is endorsing. (Kodak made its bones with camera film. Since most photogs have now gone digital, Kodak represents a neutral party.) I didn't mind the vest so much, but the advertising felt very cheap. Really, how much money does NASCAR need? This comes on the heels of a New York Times story I read several days ago that suggested the racing company is thumbing its nose at loyal fans, who may be in the cellar because of the economy, with record-high ticket prices. Everyone else in the country is dropping prices to keep business flowing, but NASCAR refuses to budge even as empty spots in the stands grow larger and larger each week.
I would love to hear some thoughts on this photographer-as-billboard issue.
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