The Bernstein Brief: How'd That Happen?
By Dan Bernstein-
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Did anybody think that was a good idea?
Or perhaps the better way to phrase the question is this: How can nobody along the line have realized that it was a bad idea and probably shouldn't have been allowed to proceed? Why didn't somebody put a stop to it?
This goes for the Seattle Seahawks and coach Pete Carroll, who had an opportunity to win the Super Bowl on Sunday night by handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch on the 1-yard line. Instead they threw a slant that got picked, and they lost. From offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell's call to Carroll not vetoing it to Wilson not checking out of it, the system failed.
And the same goes for the insurance company that chose to air a tone-deaf buzzkill of a commercial about a dead kid that resulted in so much public backlash that it forced the release of a late-night corporate statement. At no point in the months-long process of creating the ad did any of the multiple decision-makers involved think that they could be making a mistake.
After their inexplicably boneheaded showings yesterday, both Carroll and Nationwide have suffered brand damage.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
