I got confirmation yesterday from the Padres that they did indeed decide to cancel the kids dog tags promotion, in response to the small, but vocal group that basically protested any sort of promotion that tied kids to the military. Laura Broderick, Padres VP of Brand Development, basically said that everything they do with the military is done to pay tribute to their service and did not want anything to call that into question. Since the schedules had not been printed and nothing finalized, they felt it better to swap out the promotion.
Personally, I think it's a shame. At this rate, kids won't be able to say that a player reached second base because it's a euphemism for touching a woman's breast (third base being analogous to placing a finger on a vagina). No longer will kids be able to say that a slugger has "killed" the ball, because it will remind some with particular sensitivities that the act of killing is forbidden by law. The giveaways regarding skin cancer prevention will all have to be cancelled because it will serve as a constant reminder that the sun does not appreciate white people.
I guess the Anti-Dog Tag group has a point if they want to think about the dog tags in the most morbid way, but lots of things have roots that are less than "nice". For example, did you know that the semi translucent dress shirts that Filipino men wear to weddings were originally required by the Spanish during their rule, so that one could easily tell if a Filipino was carrying a weapon? And yet, you go to a Filipino wedding and there they are...
Perhaps most telling is the following comment from a vet:
As a veteran
I would like to say that the dog-tag giveaway is a great idea. The reason for their creation does not really tell the whole story. I still have my dog tags from my time in service. I gave them to my son. He also has a couple of my old uniforms.
The giveaway won’t remind people of the death of servicemen. It will remind them that many people serve. Mr. Fullerton [sic] doesn’t say whether he is a vet or not, but I would guess he isn’t. The statement that this is some sort of recruiting ploy is absurd. If they give away 10,000 of these and poll the kids later on, of those that do enter the service, I doubt that more than 1 or 2 would cite the dog tag they got at the Padres game as the reason they joined.
Also, many of the kids that attend Padres games are from military families. This little trinket could help them feel a little closer to a mom or dad serving over seas. If you personally don’t like the promotion, don’t go to this game.
AQBan
Look for the replacement giveaway on the pocket schedules to be printed up this weekend!