So did WCW really pay USA Today to insult...

[Red Impact]

Their own logo? I saw this ad on another forum, where someone reportedly found this logo from USA Today, dated April 2, 1999, in the Sports section. In link and in spoilers because it's big.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

WCW really didn't pay a nationally distributed US paper with an ad that insulted their own logo, right? I mean, people say this is real, but it can't be, can it? They really couldn't be that dumb to run an ad saying their logo looked like bird s***, could they?

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

I bet someone thought that was supposed to be a compliment.

[Deleted]

This IS WCW we're talking about here. I wouldn't put any manner of hare brained ineptitude past them.

[Red Impact]

Dec 9, 2011 21:14:43 GMT -5 @akeem said:

This IS WCW we're talking about here. I wouldn't put any manner of hare brained ineptitude past them.

I thought I knew how inept they were... but that? Seriously? "Our design looks like bird crap!"?

Were they trying to target the small market of bird-crap enthusiasts with Nielson boxes? There's just no thought process I can come up with that'd make someone think that'd a good idea. Unless they were trying to waste money...

[Deleted]

I think the paper's date was sometime in March, not April. I actually read the baseball parts and they were talking about spring training ending. (Mike Sirotka as the White Sox top strikeout pitcher in Spring Training? No wonder we sucked that year.)

Now if this was really the April 22, 1999, edition of USA Today, a little insult towards the logo is the least of WCW's problems, as it clearly lists the date of "something a bird left" as April 5th.

(For the record, I wouldn't put it past WCW to plug a show from three weeks earlier, but you get my drift.)

[baronmordo]

There are several stories out there about WCW buying expensive ads and then not getting them in the paper until days or weeks after the show had happened. Hardly shocking. But this bird crap thing-even for them, it's something.

[Red Impact]

Dec 10, 2011 9:04:57 GMT -5 @sandman said:

I think the paper's date was sometime in March, not April. I actually read the baseball parts and they were talking about spring training ending. (Mike Sirotka as the White Sox top strikeout pitcher in Spring Training? No wonder we sucked that year.)

Now if this was really the April 22, 1999, edition of USA Today, a little insult towards the logo is the least of WCW's problems, as it clearly lists the date of "something a bird left" as April 5th.

(For the record, I wouldn't put it past WCW to plug a show from three weeks earlier, but you get my drift.)

I found USA today's archives and searched for the story and you were correct, it wasn't April 22. This ad ran on April 2. So they didn't pay someone to insult their logo after the show had already run, they made sure that people could still tune in.

[johnnyk9]

Wow I know a lot of people hated that logo but wow

[rapidfire187]

Could this in any way be a "big deal fairly quick" sort of thing? As in, somebody involved with either creating that ad or publishing it accidentally left something? If so, it's a massive massive screw up.

Any chance that it's fake?

[Hassan bin Sober]

Was this reported even back then? Or is this something that has just now come to light?

[Sajoa Moe]

I remember reading that collection of WON quotes about WCW on the DVDVA board, and the quote regarding the USA Tody ad was one that stuck out for me.

[bagsley]

Awesome. I am just shocked we didnt see Mark Madden saying it on commentary over and over trying to be funny..

[Red Impact]

Dec 12, 2011 17:09:05 GMT -5 Hassan bin Sober said:

Was this reported even back then? Or is this something that has just now come to light?

The person who shared the link with me said it was something that people knew had seen, but no one can had a cap of. Guess no one wanted to look over old microfiche to find it. I don't know whether that's true or not, but it would make sense that no one would save it in 1999.

[heelish]

I believe it to be true. Just another example of WCW self-sabotaging themselves for God knows why...

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter: November 1, 1999

"Madusa came out in a bikini. The implants looked ridiculous but this is a business of excess. She came out with Nitro cologne. It was the weirdest thing as Heenan was getting over just how horrible smelling the cologne is. It is a WCW product and they were pushing how bad it smelled. Madusa started screaming it was bull**** and threw the cologne on Heenan, who reacted like it smelled like cow manure. In fact, they actually used the word manure to describe the smell of the cologne. This was weird to say the least"

[percymania]

4/5/99 was the date they debuted this new logo, btw.

[nm]

Not only do they insult their new logo, they don't even mention in the ad whats on TNT April 5th at 8 pm. Nitro? NBA basketball? A show about bird crap? The Adventures of Brisco County Jr?

Late era WCW fascinates me. It's one thing to give David Arquette the WCW title and all of the other horrible booking/storyline decisions. It was still wrestling and they could have weathered the storm. But to insult your brand new logo and say your cologne that you're selling smells like manure is just complete insanity.

I'm not sure what my favorite thing about late WCW is. It's either that newspaper clipping or when they had that match with Goldberg/Steiner/Nash I believe. Goldberg walks off and the commentators go on "YOU KNOW GOLDBERG ISNT A TEAM PLAYER HE DIDNT WANT TO TAKE THE FALL FOR THE GOOD OF THE COMPANY"

[baronmordo]

Nothing is as great as a Vince Russo worked shoot. Everything you saw tonight was fake-except this! And this!

[Rave]

"WCW took out a huge ad in USA Today with the new logo which read "Looks like something a bird left on the hood of my car", and never mentioned wrestling once" - The Wrestling Observer Newsletter: April 12, 1999

[Red Impact]

Dec 18, 2011 11:35:26 GMT -5 nm said:

Not only do they insult their new logo, they don't even mention in the ad whats on TNT April 5th at 8 pm. Nitro? NBA basketball? A show about bird crap? The Adventures of Brisco County Jr?

Late era WCW fascinates me. It's one thing to give David Arquette the WCW title and all of the other horrible booking/storyline decisions. It was still wrestling and they could have weathered the storm. But to insult your brand new logo and say your cologne that you're selling smells like manure is just complete insanity.

I'm not sure what my favorite thing about late WCW is. It's either that newspaper clipping or when they had that match with Goldberg/Steiner/Nash I believe. Goldberg walks off and the commentators go on "YOU KNOW GOLDBERG ISNT A TEAM PLAYER HE DIDNT WANT TO TAKE THE FALL FOR THE GOOD OF THE COMPANY"

It really would be awesome to have been a fly on the wall backstage at that time, and in the company meetings. I mean, someone had a reasoning that this would be good for the company, and they actually got others to accept it. That's just an amazing thought.

[Ryushinku]

Makes me wonder if this was some kind of political point-scoring by someone backstage in WCW. Not the wrestlers, I mean the execs.

Bischoff himself really didn't seem to like the re-design, for one.

But whoever did it, it's really airing your dirty laundry in public and very unprofessional. Bit like TNA and twitter, to get a cheap point-score of my own...