Differences in slang around the world mean we sometimes see locally-hilarious results from ads that might seem fine elsewhere, such as âFly In Leatherâ turning into âFly Naked,â âIt takes a tough man to make a tender chickenâ becoming âIt takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate,â and the Ford Pinto meaning âtiny male genitals.â And now the Oakland Athletics have given us a great addition to this list thanks to their âRooted In Oaklandâ slogan.
Ahead of the MLB All-Star Game Tuesday, the Athletics decided to run an ad promoting pitcher Liam Hendricks (a first-time All-Star selection) in newspapers in Hendriksâ native Australia (where the game was being aired Wednesday morning). Thatâs all well and good, but they decided to include their standard #RootedInOakland slogan. And they maybe should have listened to Hendriksâ comments to media in April about what that means in Australia (as presented here by Phil Barber of The (Santa Rosa) Press-Democrat):
Aussie Liam Hendriks confirmed to me that the A's slogan "Rooted in Oakland" has been a source of some hilarity for him. "Rooted" is a very, very naughty word in Australia.
â Phil Barber (@Skinny_Post) April 20, 2019
Indeed it is. Letâs go over to the old Urban Dictionary, and a definition from 2003:
1. Youâre rooted! (Youâre fucked)
2. If ya wanna root just ask! (If ya wanna fuck just ask)
3. Roots Rocks! ( A slogan on a popular Canadian brand of clothing (Roots)
Hereâs the full ad the Aâs ran, with the #rootedinoakland visible at the bottom if you expand the photo:
And that tweet got some funny responses:
I wonder if Liam gets rooted in Oakland?
â
Trivalve (@TVofCarringbush) July 10, 2019
So, while âRooted In Oaklandâ may be a perfectly fine slogan in North America, itâs probably not the best thing to use in an Australian newspaper. Unless the Athletics are trying to send a different sort of message. (This also brings up questions of if anyone tried to sing Take Me Out To The Ballgameâs âLet me root, root, root for the home teamâ during the 2014 MLB game in Australia, and if so, how that went.) As it is, this might be the worst unintentionally-explicit sports marketing blunder since a Cleveland Brownsâ staffer broadcast the #dp hashtag on a team facility wall.
[Deadspin]