Drive by Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place these days, and you may notice that on one of the water towers that serve the development, advertising has sprouted.
The water tower next to the Renaissance Hotel has "eBay" plastered all over it. I couldn't help but think that it's possible that a visitor to the Bass Pro Shops from some remote prairie town, where the water towers are both the tallest structures for miles around and a means of identifying a community, might wonder if he or she was visiting the town of "eBay, Mass."
More likely "Kraftville," but that's a story for another time.
Personally, I think it's a little tacky ... but what the heck. This is the age of naming rights. The stadium is named for the maker of razors and Foamy shave cream, and was originally going to be named for an investment capital firm that went belly-up just a few weeks before the 2002 season was going to start. The parking lots used to be named after Ford automobiles, the entry gates are named for banks or investment companies that paid dearly for the rights, the luxury boxes and clubs carry the name of Fidelity Investments, and the scoreboard is plastered with "official sponsors of the New England Patriots."
I fully expect that sometime in the future, my seat in the press box will be presented by Munro shock absorbers or Jenny Craig.
There is another water tower on a nearby lot, and it has yet to sprout advertising signage. A friend suggested a potential advertiser for it, but I'm a little reluctant to write the pharmaceutical product's name, given that this is a family newspaper's blog.
(Hint: It's a product that's advertised way too much during baseball playoff broadcasts, and causes more than a share of embarrassment when a pre-school youngster in the room asks, "What does that do?" )
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