From awfulannouncing.com. All the comments at the end are from Awful Announcing as well.
"So I was randomly forwarded a casting call from an anonymous tipster for an ESPN commercial which features various students calling people around the country to get them to watch more College Basketball. Seems like a basic concept right? Well wait until you read what the Casting Director is looking for from each individual acting as students from various Universities....
ESPN
Promo
SAG
PAY RATE: SAG PROMO RATE
Director: Matt Aselton
Casting Director: ERICA PALGON
Interview: Thurs 11/13 and Fri 11/14, Mon 11/17
Fitting: 11/21
Shoot: 11/24, 25
Location: New York
SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY LIZ LEWIS CASTING PARTNERS
EVERYONE MUST BE STRONG WITH COMEDY/IMPROV. PLEASE WRITE ANY ADDITIONAL NOTES, IN THE NOTES PAGE, ABOUT ACTOR'S COMEDIC/IMPROV EXPERIENCE/TRAINING, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL IN LOOKING THROUGH SUBMISSIONS
All roles are ages 18-22 yrs old. WITH THE EXCEPTION of PERDUE.
The concept: The spots take place in the ESPN College Basketball Call Center (CBBCC). All of these guys are there representing their schools, calling people on the phone to get them to watch more College Basketball. Basically they are selling college basketball.
SEEKING:
[ DUKE UNIVERSITY ]
MALE. Our guy for Duke UNIVERSITY is a smart, with it, young WHITE male. He's handsome. He's from money. He is, in short, the kind of guy, everyone can't stand. He is the kind of guy everyone wants to be.
[ NORTH CAROLINA ]
FEMALE. She's a Southern bell. She is the counterpoint to Duke. Being young and pretty everyone wants to be around her. She's charming. Not a dingbat, she's sharp.
[ TEXAS ]
MALE. Straight out20of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog, Texas is a young man's man. He is the kind of guy that could field dress a deer and then take you to the debutante ball in 20. Polite, farm boy. He's good at everything. Except call centering.
[ KANSAS ]
MALE. Kansas is straight off the farm. However, he takes great pains to point out that Kansas is very cosmopolitan, as witnessed by their record, their burgeoning tech industry, and their hybrid corns (bonus:
modified by fish genes!)
[ CONNECTICUT ]
MALE. Connecticut is all things Connecticut. He's a little bit older.
He's a little bit thicker around the waist. He's WHITE. He's also competitive. Very. Waspy, blue blood.
[ OKLAHOMA ]
MALE. Oklahoma is awesome and he thinks everything is awesome. He's very enthusiastic about all things call center and all things life and he wants to share this contagious enthusiasm with everyone he meets.
Wide-eyed, as naive as they come.
[ LOUISVILLE ]
MALE. Louisville is very true to place. He's short. He's HISPANIC. And one day he hopes to carry on in proud Louisville tradition and race thoroughbreds.
[ TENNESSEE ]
FEMALE. Tennessee is orange crazy. The ice tray in her orange fridge, that freezes the water she dyes orange, is that orange. The party girl cowboy hat she wears is a white and orange zebra print. The tattoo on her lower back is Pantone 3 for that Tennessee orange. The only thing that's not orange is her dog, which is the20mascot Smokey. Did we mention she's crazy? A slutty girl who would hang out at the cowgirl hall of fame.
[ PURDUE ]
MALE. Child prodigy. 14-year-old. Or open to an 18-year-old who looks 14. Aeronautical engineering. Wiz kid. Think McLovin from Superbad.
[ VILLANOVA ]
MALE. Villanova is the poor man's Duke — he's not quite as handsome, he's not quite as rich, he's not quite as dapper. After 2 or 3 beers though, who cares? As he's friendly enough.
[ NOTRE DAME ]
MALE He's an ASIAN kid who is in to all things Notre Dame, ridiculously so. Oh, and he's always fighting. Every time we encounter him he always has some words or another, be it the faint traces of a black eye, or a scab or whatever. He epitomizes the fightin' Irish.
[ PITTSBURGH ]
FEMALE. Pittsburgh is a tomboy. She obviously grew up in the neighborhood and isn't going to take any guff from anyone and she'll wallop you in the eye with a crowbar if you suggest different. So don't. Think Tina Fey type.
[ SYRACUSE ]
MALE. Jewish kid from Long Island that is loving the college experience. It has opened up a world he never knew existed. All you can eat buffets in the cafeteria — who knew? To Syracuse, everything is a party.
[ GEORGETOWN ]
FEMALE. Georgetown, a 4.36 GPA who's lived in 9 world-class cities, but all the time in her sister's shadow (her GPA is 4.37). She's sort of the female Duke, except most people like her. Think Reese Witherspoon.
[ GONZAGA ]
MALE. No one knows what Gonzaga looks like because no one knows where to find him. He is still stuck in the grunge look, reckless, in from the wild. Flannel look. Chews tobacco. Guy that would go to school in the Pacific Northwest.
[ MARQUETTE ]
FEMALE. Marquette, on a scale of 1-10, she's a six. A B-, C in every category you can define a person by. Her defining characteristic is you don't really remember her. You're not breaking your arm to get to her, but you're not chewing it off to get away. She does have a winning personality though. Midwest, sweet girl.
[ MICHIGAN STATE ]
MALE. Blue collar to the core. Michigan State is one tough kid that grew up by putting a few down. That's just Michigan State's way. Big beefy kid.
[ MEMPHIS ]
MALE. What can we say about Memphis? He's a southern BLACK kid, really culinary and polite. He's artistic, and draws comic books really well.
[ MARYLAND ]
MALE. He plays lacrosse. A dude. Low key. Mid Atlantic, wears baseball hats and chinos.
[ OHIO STATE ]
MALE. He looks like Jim Tressle (head coach of Ohio State football) in the dress code. Red sweater vest. Always. Doesn't care for swearing either — of course we never really test this out as they are commercial advertisements and no one swears in them, but it's true nevertheless.
A Republican.
[ ILLINOIS ]
MALE. African-American. Young Obama. Think Toofer-the straight-laced, Harvard grad writer from 30 Rock (Keith Powell)
[ OKLAHOMA STATE ]
FEMALE. She's a fun loving girl, Oklahoma born and bred. Decided not to travel out of State so she should be closer to home. She's a flirt.
She's a hot chick.
[ TEXAS A&M ]
MALE. True to the region, Texas A&M is one tough dude. He's not big physically, but he is imposing. He's an ROTC kid and his 100-yard stare lets you know it.
[ BAYLOR ]
MALE & FEMALE. Baylor is not one people but two. It's a couple. In fact, we're not even sure which one goes to Baylor. We only know they are madly in love. Their world is each other, which is really sweet or really sickening, depending. Think Sheri Oteri and Will Farrell as the cheerleaders.
So, ummmmm yeah. Basically if you're in actor/actress in NYC and you want to be a part of possibly one of the most sexist, racist and stereotypical ads ever, then this is for you! They're so stereotypical that they're almost funny. I mean...."[ MARQUETTE ]
FEMALE. Marquette, on a scale of 1-10, she's a six.....Really? I mean....REALLY?!?!?! Oh and so they want one "BLACK kid" and one "African-American"? Pretty funny how the "African-American" went to Harvard and the "BLACK kid" draws comic books. Unbelievable.
Good lord. I know directors are looking for certain people to fill roles, but are casting calls always this ridiculous? I wish I was making this up. Just flat out unbelievable."
I don't find this offensive in the least. What is so bad about it? Are casting directors not allowed to specifically seek black people or Asian people?
I would lean toward offensive for this one...
Quote from: RedWebster on November 12, 2008, 04:05:23 PM
I don't find this offensive in the least. What is so bad about it? Are casting directors not allowed to specifically seek black people or Asian people?
Comments like this are why you are ignored by 8 people after only 43 posts.
I can't say I'm surprised casting calls look like this. If it's legit, my surprise is that some people were stupid enough to allow it to be leaked. Either way, now we'll never see the commercial to match it unless ESPN is really that braindead.
Quote from: jmayer1 on November 12, 2008, 04:09:56 PM
Comments like this are why you are ignored by 8 people after only 43 posts.
Red's preferred MU description ...
[ MARQUETTE ]
MALE. He's a red-skinned guy. Don't let that goofy grin fool you, this guy loves to go to war. He wears colorful feathers in his hair. Loves to paint his face before a big matchup with a fierce rival. He waves around a tomahawk when things get intense. Lives off-campus in a place called The Reservation. Drinks a bit too much.
C'mon guys. This is not legitimate. Some prankster drafted what appears to be a commercial shoot for ESPN. Don't put any stock in it, it's bogus.
It has to be real, it says SAG on the top.
You forgot this one:
(WISCONSIN):
White male- Think huge douche-bag. Is not actually a student at Wisconsin, but at UW-Stevens Point. Very Loud. Over-inflated ego. Thinks they are Duke when they are closer to Clemson. Has only been to the big dance 14 times in its entire history, yet acts like they won it all last year. Worships Bo Ryan and all he does. Claims Bo has won a national championship even though nobody cares about it. Think delusional.
[ MARQUETTE ]
FEMALE. Marquette, on a scale of 1-10, she's a six. A B-, C in every category you can define a person by. Her defining characteristic is you don't really remember her. You're not breaking your arm to get to her, but you're not chewing it off to get away. She does have a winning personality though. Midwest, sweet girl.
Are we talking Hollywood 6 or Milwaukee 6?
Wow .. after reading those .. it sure seems most of them have a positive spin, tough guy, smart girl. The MU one seems the most negative stereotype.
Ouch.
Has to be fake. There is no way ESPN would allow this. The lawsuits would be near never ending.
However, since Dish posted it... I think it's real
Quote from: MUDish on November 12, 2008, 03:49:10 PM
[ NOTRE DAME ]
MALE He's an ASIAN kid who is in to all things Notre Dame, ridiculously so. Oh, and he's always fighting. Every time we encounter him he always has some words or another, be it the faint traces of a black eye, or a scab or whatever. He epitomizes the fightin' Irish.
An Asian kid? That might be the last thing I think about when Notre Dame comes up.
A B-, C in every category you can define a person by.
Huh? Think that is a wide enough range? Totally fake.
I think A was an article not a grade....
Quote from: marqptm on November 12, 2008, 09:23:15 PM
Has to be fake. There is no way ESPN would allow this. The lawsuits would be near never ending.
However, since Dish posted it... I think it's real
FWIW, the guy who runs the Awful Announcing site says "it's definitely not s fake" and claims the casting agency is threatening legal action against him for posting it.
Who would sue ESPN over this? And on what grounds?
Well done, Shaq. Couldn't be a whole lot more accurate than that.
personally im not offended but that's probably because it's almost impossible to offend me. my gut says that this is fake, but the 4-letter network has done some pretty stupid things before in the form of internal memos. (the cold list of stories that aren't reportable comes to mind) so it's possible that it's real.
Apparently ESPN issued an official statement, links at the bottom if your interested:
Update: According to the original tipster, the notice has been taken down and here is ESPN's statement on the matter....
"Our marketing department just learned of this casting call today and the campaign is not something we will pursue. The language and approach reflected in that document were not approved by us and in no way represent ESPN or the respect we have for the college community."
Fair enough. When things get outsourced like this, you can certainly lose a lot of control. I don't think ESPN is entirely to blame for this one, but maybe they should keep a closer eye on things like this in the future.
http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/11/have-you-ever-wondered-what-espn-really.html (http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/11/have-you-ever-wondered-what-espn-really.html)
ahhh....am I the only person who read this and thought that it was pretty spot on?
I have never, not even for a second, want to ever be a Duke student.
QuoteI have never, not even for a second, want to ever be a Duke student.
FWIW ....I learned from my son who is a UNC grad that they refer to that "other" school eight miles down the road as Dook and its students as dookies.... ;D
Quote from: BaltimoreMC on November 13, 2008, 11:46:59 AM
ahhh....am I the only person who read this and thought that it was pretty spot on?
Nope. Atleast for MU.
I think people that were "offended" need to relax.
A couple were pretty funny, actually. But I don't see how an Asian represents the fighting IRISH...
Quote from: Classof2016 on November 13, 2008, 04:55:57 PM
A couple were pretty funny, actually. But I don't see how an Asian represents the fighting IRISH...
If anything, the Asian kid should go to Northwestern. ;D
Incidentally, this whole thing made SportsBusinessDaily today
CASTING CALL: AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Brian Powell posted a casting call for an ESPN ad that calls for actors to represent "students from various Universities," and offers a description of stereotypes for numerous schools. Powell wrote the casting call depicts the ad as "possibly one of the most sexist, racist and stereotypical ads ever." The description for Marquette Univ. calls for a female who, "on a scale of 1-10, she's a six." Powell: "Really? I mean ... REALLY?!?!?" He added, "Oh and so they want one 'BLACK kid' and one 'African-American?' Pretty funny how the 'African-American' went to Harvard and the 'BLACK kid' draws comic books. Unbelievable." Powell noted the casting call has been "taken down." ESPN said in a statement, "Our marketing department just learned of this casting call today and the campaign is not something we will pursue. The language and approach reflected in that document were not approved by us and in no way represent ESPN or the respect we have for the college community" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 11/12).
I sent an email to two of my buddies that are VP's there, I used to work with them at DTV. I asked which one of them was responsible and that a "6" probably wasn't too far off the mark. ;)
I'm surprised it turned out to be legit.
I don't think the Marquette one was inaccurate or near the most offensive. I'm not particularly offended by any of it, but of any of them I thought claiming the Louisville student to be an aspiring jockey was pretty bad.
Quote from: chapman on November 13, 2008, 08:25:58 PM
I'm surprised it turned out to be legit.
I don't think the Marquette one was inaccurate or near the most offensive. I'm not particularly offended by any of it, but of any of them I thought claiming the Louisville student to be an aspiring jockey was pretty bad.
You and I both, but there are a lot of people in this country that are offended if you even look at them quizzically.
That's SEXIST!