The past, present and future are about to collide: "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" wants to rebrand a Minor League Baseball team.
This wholly unexpected offer was announced during Sunday night's episode of the long-running HBO program. Following segments on more serious topics -- usually the show's focus, albeit with a comedic spin -- host John Oliver launched into a deeply researched segment on the wild world of Minor League Baseball promotions. It concluded with Oliver's plea to teams, imploring them to embrace "the glorious eccentricity of the magnificent league they belong to."
"And that is where we come in," he continued, "because I have a very special offer. We are willing to use all of our resources and stupidity to give one Minor League Baseball team a total rebrand. We will give you a new team name. A new mascot. We will even throw you a theme night. It will be personalized and it will be bespoke."
This offer came toward the conclusion of a free-wheeling exploration of Minor League Baseball weirdness, in which Oliver highlighted team names, alternate identities, theme nights and the occasional promotional mishap (hey, as the saying goes, you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs).
This included hearty endorsements of the Rocket City Trash Pandas branding, the Lake County Captains' toilet seat row, the El Paso Chihuahuas' "dog face" jerseys and the story behind the Eugene Emeralds' Exploding Whales alternate identity.
More obscure back corners of the promotional landscape were celebrated as well. "Helen McGuckin Night," in which the Charleston RiverDogs attempted to impress a woman who had left a two-star Google review, received an incredulous retelling. So, too, did the Syracuse Chiefs (now the Mets) "Devices Night," a tribute to an iconic foot-measuring tool invented in Syracuse.
At the end of the segment, Oliver implored Minor League teams interested in his offer to email the show. He vowed that, although this is a comparatively frivolous endeavor, "We will put just as much time, energy and research into this" as they do more serious topics.
"We will do this in the spirit of your team, city and league in which you belong," he concluded, though with the caveat that "You can't ask us any questions, give us any notes and you have to do what we come up with."
On social media, Minor League teams across the country are already expressing interest in Oliver's offer. Would anyone have expected otherwise? As Oliver said at the top of the segment: "Minor League teams are really good at publicity. ... They go out of their way to grab people's attention."
Now, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" has grabbed theirs.