While the Riders' on field season has gotten off to a decidedly weak start, the marketing department is going strong. Recently, the team unveiled a Roughrider ice cream, which joins breakfast cereal, potato chips, and even a barbecue in the realm of football food solutions. At this rate, it can't be long until one can make all of their meals out of Rider products.
It makes sense that the team wants to explore as many merchandising opportunities as possible, it brings in money. This is especially important as the team keeps working towards building a new stadium and staying competitive. However, it's slowly reaching the point where it's getting comical and out of hand.
An argument can be made for some of the snack foods, as football parties are a popular event for fans. The breakfast cereal, while silly, isn't completely out of hand, since it's long been tradition to put sports personalities on their boxes. Put it all together, however, and it looks more like a marketing department willing to put the team name on anything they can find, whether or not it really ties in to the brand they're wanting to push.
It is currently reaching the point where the branding is getting away from the core values, that is football, and people who enjoy it. After this latest venture, the marketing team should stop to consider how well the latest product fits into the overall football experience. Football chips are acceptable, football ice cream is pushing it a bit far, but if the Rider logo starts appearing on anything, it is going to make all of the various foods look overly foolish.
