It’s okay to have bad ideas. We all have them! To be human is to have bad ideas every now and then. But the key is to be able to edit those bad ideas. To be able to refine those bad ideas. To be able to take a step back, analyze, and realize when your bad idea might not be quite as stellar as you originally thought. Unfortunately, the misguided folks over at the newly announced Boston NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) team clearly lack that all-important ability.
As an avid soccer fan, I awoke to the news yesterday morning flooding my various social feeds and group chats that the newest NWSL team had been revealed: BOS Nation Football Club.
You heard that right, BOS Nation. Begging the questions: What?, Why?, and How?
BOS Nation FC is a terrible name for a sports franchise because, to put it bluntly: it’s corny as hell. “Lady Boss” culture and the “Girl Boss” discourse is over. In fact, it never started. It’s an inherently dated and regressive concept that is the opposite of empowering. “BOS Nation” is trying too hard. It wants so badly to be cool, and there’s nothing less cool than wanting to be cool. It’s unnecessarily overcomplicating what simply should have been “Boston FC” or “FC Boston,” which are reportedly two of the options that were rejected in favor of their cringey counterpart. Apparently, “BOS Nation” is an anagram of “Bostonian,” which is one of those bad ideas reeking of the original brainstorm that should have been dismissed immediately—not taken seriously and then turned into an actual NWSL franchise. Alas, here we are.
The BOS Nation design and branding aren’t doing the franchise any favors either. The stacked logo is especially baffling, with the “FC” split up oddly and placed galaxies apart on either side of the “BOS” and clipart-looking starburst icon. The brand names for the colors in the brand system are eye-roll-inducing in their own right: “championship green,” “relentless raspberry,” “loyal charcoal,” “daring pink,” “rise yellow,” and “orange press.”
But while the name and branding are puzzling, the roll-out campaign unleashed by BOS Nation to officially announce the franchise is downright offensive.
NOTE: The original video used for the rollout campaign has since been removed from all platforms by BOS Nation and the NWSL. A downloaded version can be accessed here.
I am far from alone in my incredulity toward every aspect of this campaign. For the first time ever, the internet is aligned in patently agreeing upon something: this is SO BAD. There are so many layers to how the roll-out so egregiously misses the mark, so let’s dive right in. First off, using men’s sports franchises as the main framework for the launch video is, in itself, infuriating. Why are we making a women’s sports franchise about men? What are they even doing here? But then on top of that, making the roll-out about male genitalia? Now that’s beyond the pale.
In an attempt to be edgy and subversive, BOS Nation is simply being transphobic and misogynistic, reducing gender to genitalia in a tired and childish joke about balls. They double down on the joke by encouraging people to go to toomanyballs.com, which then redirects to the BOS Nation website. The whole concept sounds like a parody, satire, or comedy sketch, or perhaps an idea that was proposed by some frat boy intern at an NFL-themed podcast.
Another layer in this lasagna of disrespect is the erasure of the many women’s professional sports teams that are, in fact, already playing and thriving in Boston. As The Athletic reporter Meg Linehan rightly points out, Boston’s women’s professional hockey team in the PHWL not only exists but made it all the way to the league championship series last season. Boston is also home to a women’s professional rugby team, Beantown RFC, and a women’s professional football team, the Boston Renegades, who have won five national championships over the last six seasons. Forgot about all of those incredible women athletes, did ya, BOS Nation?
So who’s to blame? Colossus Creative Co. was the agency behind the BOS Nation integrated campaign and brand identity, smugly posting about the work on their Instagram yesterday in which they thanked their “brave clients for having the guts to be wildly provocative with this launch.” They also thanked the various men’s sports franchises featured in the launch (for contributing creatively, as well?), for their “incredible sense of humor.”
As a teaser for yesterday’s hard launch, more than 200 billboards and other OOH placements sprung up around Boston for 48 hours, which proclaimed the campaign’s idiotic refrain: “There are too many balls in this town.” The “cryptic (and entertaining) message” was meant to inspire shock, confusion, and intrigue from onlookers who would then be enticed to visit everybody’s new favorite website, www.toomanyballs.com. You simply can’t make this stuff up!
The lingering question is, of course, what comes next? Will BOS Nation FC (every time I type that out I can’t believe it’s real) see the error of their ways and pivot in a new brand direction before they’re in too deep? Or will they dig their heels even deeper into this name and brand system, despite literally everyone hating it? Only time will tell! Maybe they should ask Tom Brady what he thinks they should do.
Story update as of October 16 at 1PM ET / 10AM PT
The “too many balls” roll-out is actively being rolled back by BOS Nation, who have removed the brand launch video from their socials and posted this statement: