MLB Extra Innings' Misleading Advertising
MLB is airing a "free preview" of its Extra Innings service right now, with lots of ads telling you how you can sign up for the rest of the season.
I believe the ad they are running is deceptive at best, and fraudulent at worst. A line in the commercial says:
"You can watch your team's games no matter where you live."
This is blatantly false. As I and many others have pointed out, there are large areas of the country where various teams' games cannot be seen, and these areas do not correspond to areas where those games can be seen on other outlets. So for Major League Baseball to claim that you can watch "your team's" games "no matter where you live" is bull. If you're a Pirates fan in Harrisburg, or a Cubs fan in Des Moines, or a fan of any NL West team in Las Vegas, you're out of luck.
This ad is running with some sort of scrolling disclaimer at the bottom of it. The thing is, the disclaimer is in such small print, and scrolls by so quickly, that it is impossible to read. For all I know, it says "do not taunt Happy Fun Ball." It certainly does not outline the significant exceptions to the claim being made in the ad.
Who should I complain to about this? The Consumerist, obviously, and MLB (not that that will make a difference). Other than that, who? The BBB? The state Consumer Affairs department? My congressman? Emails are written, ready to be sent; I can call as many people as necessary. This aggression will not stand.
4 Comments:
Definitely the BBB. A black mark there is still important.
But whose BBB? The one where I live? The one on New York City (where MLB is)?
Go for three: your local one, the NYC one to tag MLB, and Denver to get DirecTV's attention (Greenwood Village, CO actually, but it's a Denver suburb).
A truly annoying bit of deception. I'm a Kansas City Royals fan (you may snicker all you'd like) living in Maine. There are occasions where four of the MLB channels are showing the same game while the one I want isn't being offered. It wouldn't be so infuriating if it was clearer in the advertising that you're probably not going to get both your teams weekend games no matter where you live or who you root for.
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