Watch the World-Famous New York Yankees Beg for Recognition in This New Ad From Wix
- Robert Klara, Adweek.com

August 29th, 2017 - If there’s one team in professional sports that doesn’t have to bother promoting itself, it’s the New York Yankees. The 114-year-old club is the best known in baseball. Fame can cut both ways, of course, as recent polls have crowned the Yankees as both America’s favorite team and its most hated, the latter presumably because of the team’s legendarily deep pockets. But whichever side of the divide you stand on, it’s a given that the boys in pinstripes need no help being recognized.

That truism furnishes the absurdist context in a new spot for web-development company Wix, which sees several members of the team making rather desperate pleas for recognition. The minute-long video, the latest product of a 2-year-old partnership between the Yankees and the Tel Aviv-based tech company, makes its web debut today.

The spot kicks off with manager Joe Girardi running into Didi Gregorius, who’s busy building his own fan site (using Wix, naturally). Girardi gently admonishes his shortstop, pointing out that it’s fans, not players, who build such sites. “It’d be really weird if we did our own promotions,” Girardi tells Gregorius.

That’s the setup for 50 ensuing seconds of the Yankees shown in a way few are used to seeing them, desperate for attention. Pitcher Dellin Betances hands out hand-lettered signs for fans to hold up (including one that says “Marry Me, Dellin”). Third baseman Chase Headley coaxes a row of fans to don T-shirts that spell out his name. And retired right fielder Paul O’Neill, broadcasting from the booth, gives a shoutout to … himself.

Find the full Adweek piece on the spot here. Thomas's other recent clients include Walgreens,  Elmer's, and Kellogg's. For more of Thomas's work, please visit Chelsea.com.