Thoughts on the "Red-Out" video fiasco...

zinner111

zinner111

Walk-on
I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority here, but at least its more fodder to get us through the next few weeks...

The NU Marketing department made 2 mistakes with the production and subsequent edit of their "Red-Out Around The World Video". Its a classic example of 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Producing a hype video that closes by calling out one opponent midway through the schedule is bush league. It lowers our standard to an Army/Navy "one game on the schedule matters" level. Of course this isnt the intent, but it can (and was) perceived by the media and the opposing team's fans as hyping the game to compensate for being an inferior team. Now, before you misconstrue that statement, reread it. I'm not claiming we're inferior. I expect us to go into the 10-16 game as a favorite. I'm saying that the way it was marketed portrays us as an underdog. Nebraska - both the program and its fanbase - always expect to be competitive in any game.

So, the past is the past and video is made and its out there for the world to see. So be it. Then comes the most bewildering move of all. At the request of Tom Osborne, the words "Beat Texas" dissapear from the end of the video. Are you kidding me? Thats like challenging the bully to a fight after school and then not showing up. While I certainly didnt agree with releasing the video in the first place...editing it after the fact makes us look worse in the media and to the opposing school's fans. It appears as though we can't back up our talk. There is absolutely no reason to remove that line. If it wasnt classy in the first place, its certainly less classy to not stick to your guns.

It had since come out that the NU Marketing Dept made the video and that it wasnt cleared by Bo or at the very least, T.O. Really? Nebraska is what a top 10 revenue generating football program? And somehow the communication lines were faulty on this one? Frustrating.

I can't wait to talk about an actual game...

 
zinner111 said:
I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority here, but at least its more fodder to get us through the next few weeks...

The NU Marketing department made 2 mistakes with the production and subsequent edit of their "Red-Out Around The World Video". Its a classic example of 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Producing a hype video that closes by calling out one opponent midway through the schedule is bush league. It lowers our standard to an Army/Navy "one game on the schedule matters" level. Of course this isnt the intent, but it can (and was) perceived by the media and the opposing team's fans as hyping the game to compensate for being an inferior team. Now, before you misconstrue that statement, reread it. I'm not claiming we're inferior. I expect us to go into the 10-16 game as a favorite. I'm saying that the way it was marketed portrays us as an underdog. Nebraska - both the program and its fanbase - always expect to be competitive in any game.

So, the past is the past and video is made and its out there for the world to see. So be it. Then comes the most bewildering move of all. At the request of Tom Osborne, the words "Beat Texas" dissapear from the end of the video. Are you kidding me? Thats like challenging the bully to a fight after school and then not showing up. While I certainly didnt agree with releasing the video in the first place...editing it after the fact makes us look worse in the media and to the opposing school's fans. It appears as though we can't back up our talk. There is absolutely no reason to remove that line. If it wasnt classy in the first place, its certainly less classy to not stick to your guns.

It had since come out that the NU Marketing Dept made the video and that it wasnt cleared by Bo or at the very least, T.O. Really? Nebraska is what a top 10 revenue generating football program? And somehow the communication lines were faulty on this one? Frustrating.

I can't wait to talk about an actual game...
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You can't expect everything to pass through their mailboxes. They have better things to do. I can assure you no one who was involved saw this fiasco coming. I agree with the rest of the assessment thought. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.

 
eliot1171 said:
zinner111 said:
I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority here, but at least its more fodder to get us through the next few weeks...

The NU Marketing department made 2 mistakes with the production and subsequent edit of their "Red-Out Around The World Video". Its a classic example of 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Producing a hype video that closes by calling out one opponent midway through the schedule is bush league. It lowers our standard to an Army/Navy "one game on the schedule matters" level. Of course this isnt the intent, but it can (and was) perceived by the media and the opposing team's fans as hyping the game to compensate for being an inferior team. Now, before you misconstrue that statement, reread it. I'm not claiming we're inferior. I expect us to go into the 10-16 game as a favorite. I'm saying that the way it was marketed portrays us as an underdog. Nebraska - both the program and its fanbase - always expect to be competitive in any game.

So, the past is the past and video is made and its out there for the world to see. So be it. Then comes the most bewildering move of all. At the request of Tom Osborne, the words "Beat Texas" dissapear from the end of the video. Are you kidding me? Thats like challenging the bully to a fight after school and then not showing up. While I certainly didnt agree with releasing the video in the first place...editing it after the fact makes us look worse in the media and to the opposing school's fans. It appears as though we can't back up our talk. There is absolutely no reason to remove that line. If it wasnt classy in the first place, its certainly less classy to not stick to your guns.

It had since come out that the NU Marketing Dept made the video and that it wasnt cleared by Bo or at the very least, T.O. Really? Nebraska is what a top 10 revenue generating football program? And somehow the communication lines were faulty on this one? Frustrating.

I can't wait to talk about an actual game...
Click to expand...
You can't expect everything to pass through their mailboxes. They have better things to do. I can assure you no one who was involved saw this fiasco coming. I agree with the rest of the assessment thought. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.
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:yeah

The whole deal probably was a mistake on the part of the AD. And I seriously doubt some tech nerd sat down in Bo's office, showed him a video calling out a single opponent, and Bo casually says "yeah, looks good, put it out."

 
What video are you talking about? I know nothing about any video.

Boooo to the offseason

 
I agree. I think it's been blown a little bit out of proportion but I think it was a mistake to take the words out. I wouldn't have put them in, in the first place but once they're already in there they should have left them in.

 
At the request of Tom Osborne, the words "Beat Texas" dissapear from the end of the video. Are you kidding me? Thats like challenging the bully to a fight after school and then not showing up.
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No, it's making a mistake, and then fixing it.

You may want to consult an explanation for "two wrongs don't make a right," because the second one was clearly not a wrong. Might not like it from a pride standpoint, but if we make a mistake, I'd sure as heck expect us to stand up and admit it. The second wrong would be making the mistake and plunging ahead while not even acknowledging that it was.

The people who made the video made the mistake. It's a lesson learned, and I'm sure there's going to be some accountability there now. The next video will probably run through some higher-ups than just some guy who doesn't look at the big picture and just says, "OK, looks cool, release it." Shame on the marketing dept, really - it was a terrible call to call out an opponent like that. And it produced a distraction the AD & the team and coaches have to take care of and deal with.

 
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When did Nebraska lose its cojones?

1) There was nothing wrong with the video. It was well done, and looked pretty cool.

2) There was nothing wrong with calling out Texas. You'd have to be a blind mole living under Sasquatch's sofa to have no idea how big that game is going to be. Further, there is NOTHING wrong with saying "Beat Texas." Nothing. What kind of namby-pamby wooses are we that we're afraid of offending someone with the words "Beat Texas?" I'll give you (the media dept folks) a clue - THEY KNOW WE WANT TO BEAT THEM. It's not a secret.

3) The only mistake we made was pulling "Beat Texas" off the video. It looks like we think we did something wrong. We didn't.

Maybe TO wouldn't have put those words on that video if he had known ahead of time. But the Nebraska players I grew up watching in the 70s, 80s and 90s wouldn't have worried about Texas gunning for us because we had the audacity to declare that we want to beat the toughest team on our schedule.

I grew up in a time when half of Nebraska was covered in bumper stickers that said, "Better Dead Than Sooner Red," or "If I owned Hell and Oklahoma, I'd live in Hell and rent out Oklahoma," and "It's Hard to be Humble When You're From Nebraska."

Lord save us from this ridiculous PC movement. It's OK to stand up to the bully in the room. It's OK to say, "Here is where your reign stops. Here is where ours begins."

Great teams make those words ring true. If they don't, they know they have more work to do. And they go out and do that work and make the truth out of those statements. Let's be that team, those fans.

 
The problem was not the words "Beat Texas" but the lack of public knowledge of the purpose of the video.

Which I can't believe that Husker fans are misconstruing and buying into the Texas cons/journalists.

It was never made to call out Texas football, athletics, or sexuality.

If it was meant to be a video to call out the Longhorns it would have been titled "beattexas.com" or something like it.

The video was intended to unite Alumni from around the world for one day, hence the "redoutaroundtheworld.com" site.

What better way to unite Alumni and raise some money then by attaching it to what should be a hugely hyped and exciting game.

The epic fail is that they didn't launch the full site at the same time (I believe full launch is set for August 8th) as the video.

There wouldn't be any confusion on its intent, or this crud floating around if they launched the full site.

From Bo Pelini:

"Each year our marketing department takes one football game where we kind of take the alumni from around the country and try and make it the designated alumni game," ... "They picked the Texas game"

Audio Link from UNL Assistant AD Marc Boehm

 
MoState, agreed. But the bottom line is that the words took away from the intent of the video. It produced a distraction that wasn't necessary.

Knapp, I guess I just see this one differently. This has nothing to do with the team's attitude, or the team not having cojones, or even the fans not having cojones. Marketing is marketing. They sent out a message on behalf of the AD and the team that isn't what the AD wanted. At this point, you don't just say "OK, let's roll with that, I guess." What's so great about having the 'cojones' to talk big? I much prefer a team that shuts its mouth and lets its play do the speaking. I think TO recognized that for better or for worse, this was something that was causing a media firestorm, and wasn't what the team represented. I think it was completely necessary. As fans, the game is a huge deal. For the coaches, hopefully, it's just another game. There are five before it, and six or seven or eight after it. Practically that isn't the case, but isn't that the best approach to try to take?

 
knapplc said:
When did Nebraska lose its cojones?

1) There was nothing wrong with the video. It was well done, and looked pretty cool.

2) There was nothing wrong with calling out Texas. You'd have to be a blind mole living under Sasquatch's sofa to have no idea how big that game is going to be. Further, there is NOTHING wrong with saying "Beat Texas." Nothing. What kind of namby-pamby wooses are we that we're afraid of offending someone with the words "Beat Texas?" I'll give you (the media dept folks) a clue - THEY KNOW WE WANT TO BEAT THEM. It's not a secret.

3) The only mistake we made was pulling "Beat Texas" off the video. It looks like we think we did something wrong. We didn't.

Maybe TO wouldn't have put those words on that video if he had known ahead of time. But the Nebraska players I grew up watching in the 70s, 80s and 90s wouldn't have worried about Texas gunning for us because we had the audacity to declare that we want to beat the toughest team on our schedule.

I grew up in a time when half of Nebraska was covered in bumper stickers that said, "Better Dead Than Sooner Red," or "If I owned Hell and Oklahoma, I'd live in Hell and rent out Oklahoma," and "It's Hard to be Humble When You're From Nebraska."

Lord save us from this ridiculous PC movement. It's OK to stand up to the bully in the room. It's OK to say, "Here is where your reign stops. Here is where ours begins."

Great teams make those words ring true. If they don't, they know they have more work to do. And they go out and do that work and make the truth out of those statements. Let's be that team, those fans.
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i completely agree. i do not see how it is classless? people are making it seem the slogan was, "wear red. be loud. molest a child." but it was not. the goal is to beat every team, including texas. i can see the argument that it is bush league to call out one opponent, as if winning one game makes your season, but that is not the case here. this is a big game that we need to win to reclaim dominance in the big 12. it has far reaching implications and is extremely symbolic for us for many reasons. we believe the big 12 championship was stolen from us (whether because of a bad call or because NU fell short and lost a game they should have won) and now we have a chance to beat the big 12 champion at home. and again, tu should be flattered that we would respect (for lack of a better word) them enough that this game would mean so much. you have to beat the best to be the best, and as reigning big 12 champs, tu is the best.

 
zoogies said:
Knapp, I guess I just see this one differently. This has nothing to do with the team's attitude, or the team not having cojones, or even the fans not having cojones. Marketing is marketing. They sent out a message on behalf of the AD and the team that isn't what the AD wanted. At this point, you don't just say "OK, let's roll with that, I guess." What's so great about having the 'cojones' to talk big? I much prefer a team that shuts its mouth and lets its play do the speaking. I think TO recognized that for better or for worse, this was something that was causing a media firestorm, and wasn't what the team represented. I think it was completely necessary. As fans, the game is a huge deal. For the coaches, hopefully, it's just another game. There are five before it, and six or seven or eight after it. Practically that isn't the case, but isn't that the best approach to try to take?
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I don't know. Mostly I agree with you, or at least see where you're coming from. I see it as way more fuss than it should be for the content of the video. Really, how bad is it to say "Beat Texas?" The way the media jumped on it and the way Texas Fans are reacting, you'd think we were planning on re-enacting Sherman's March and burning Austin. It's such a mild, mild statement - I can't believe it's worth all this fuss.

 
knapplc said:
zoogies said:
Knapp, I guess I just see this one differently. This has nothing to do with the team's attitude, or the team not having cojones, or even the fans not having cojones. Marketing is marketing. They sent out a message on behalf of the AD and the team that isn't what the AD wanted. At this point, you don't just say "OK, let's roll with that, I guess." What's so great about having the 'cojones' to talk big? I much prefer a team that shuts its mouth and lets its play do the speaking. I think TO recognized that for better or for worse, this was something that was causing a media firestorm, and wasn't what the team represented. I think it was completely necessary. As fans, the game is a huge deal. For the coaches, hopefully, it's just another game. There are five before it, and six or seven or eight after it. Practically that isn't the case, but isn't that the best approach to try to take?
Click to expand...
I don't know. Mostly I agree with you, or at least see where you're coming from. I see it as way more fuss than it should be for the content of the video. Really, how bad is it to say "Beat Texas?" The way the media jumped on it and the way Texas Fans are reacting, you'd think we were planning on re-enacting Sherman's March and burning Austin. It's such a mild, mild statement - I can't believe it's worth all this fuss.
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i have a theory. there is a lot of hatred towards NU, especially in texas. this is something they can cling to and complain about. they finally have a chance to call NU classless with evidence to point to and they are taking full advantage of it. that is why you get people from texas saying things like, 'i always respected nu, but now i don't know what to think.' or 'the classiest fans is now just a saying'. well, they have been saying those things for years, and never really respected us, and now they have something to point to and shake there heads. it is manipulation and feigned outrage and an excuse for them to keep saying what they have been for years, they don't like nu much at all. but now, instead of seeming like lunatics for hating us for no other reason than just to hate us, they can say, "well, they really hurt our feelings when they said they wanted to beat us."

also, on a side note, they make it out like that whole video was about the texas game. that whole video was about wearing red. beat texas was just an after thought.

 
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