There are times when I mention to people that I work in advertising that I get “the look.” “The look” is that facial expression that says, “Oh, you’ll do anything to make a quick buck.” While I can see how some commercials, direct mail and promotions can be viewed as being less than wholesome, I’ve always thought of my job as adding value to a brand. Building relationships. Communicating product benefits. Creating a dialogue with consumers. My work is ultimately about promoting good will not bad feelings.

A few days ago, I got an earful when Jeffery Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker® (WSOP), announced changes to the largest and most historic poker tournament in the world. Pollack introduced “enhancements” to the Main Event by altering the tournament structure.

In the past, the WSOP Main Event ran with few breaks until one person ended up with all the chips. It was a marathon no-limit hold’em game with a huge prize pool.

This year, the tournament will only be played until nine players remain (known as the “final table”). Then, the game will be suspended for four months. In November, these nine players will reconvene to play the final table.

The reason? To create more promotional (read: sponsorship) opportunities for ESPN, Harrah’s casino and maybe the players. ESPN thinks they can better hype the most famous tournament in the world by promoting the action leading up to the final table (on their network, of course) and making celebrities out of the nine players (regardless of their wishes).

Following this news, many poker players have been chastising Harrah’s, ESPN and the Players Advisory Council for breaking tradition and turning the Main Event into even more of a circus. Most feel delaying the outcome of the tournament will inconvenience and possibly endanger the players, create opportunities for collusion and change how the players will play after having more time to study the game and their opponents. Some compare the changes to playing three quarters of the Super Bowl, stopping the action and then playing the final quarter three months later.

In this case, I have to agree with the average poker player who thinks this is a bad idea. Since players are the ones paying the $10,000 entry fee, they should have a say in any program changes. Manipulating the most prestigious poker tournament to better suit the sponsors is a blatant violation of good brand stewardship. Bastardizing the Main Event to squeeze out some more promotional dollars does little to boost the WSOP brand’s integrity.

I imagine the next time I see Jeff Pollack, I’ll be the one giving “the look.”

Technorati Tags: anything to make a quick buck, Jeffery Pollack, World Series of Poker, poker tournament, WSOP Main Event, ESPN, Harrah’s

Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Miscellaneous, Television Marketing