UPDATE: MLB and Chevrolet pull the “Silverado Strong” promotion

UPDATE: Wiser heads have prevailed: the “Silverado Strong” promotion has been cancelled.

Michael Albano, Chevrolet Spokesperson issued the following statement:

“Earlier this year Chevrolet launched the all-new 2014 Silverado. The launch is supported by the campaign, “Strong”, which celebrates the strength of hardworking, honest and dependable men and women. Chevy has carried this theme throughout the 2013 MLB Playoffs and the World Series. Chevrolet had planned to continue the campaign tonight through an interactive in-stadium promotion. However, following today’s rehearsal we realized there was the possibility that we may offend some of the very fans we were trying to honor, for that reason Chevrolet and MLB decided to cancel the promotion.”

Well, whether Chevy had a campaign going beforehand isn’t the point. They can do whatever they want with the campaign. It’s the intersection of the “Silverado Strong” and “Boston Strong” in dueling on-field World Series promotions which was the problem.

Either way: that’s a smart call. Of course, how no one considered that this was tacky until just before game time is beyond me.

ST. LOUIS -- When I got to the ballpark today I noticed a bunch of little pieces of cardboard on the lower level seats. Some down by the left and right field lines are clearly the MLB logo. From where I’m sitting I can see the third base line and can clearly see the word “Strong.” “Hmm, ‘Boston Strong,’” I thought? A nice gesture, but it seems a bit out of place in St. Louis.

But no, it’s not a tribute to Boston and its post-Marathon bombing recovery. It’s about trucks that are second to none. This pic via Reddit:

From MLB.com, explaining it:

Leading into the top of the 3rd, Ozzie Smith will recognize Chevrolet’s commitment to growing youth baseball in a video played on the scoreboard. He will prompt fans in attendance to hold up placards in front of them, which will unveil an image of the words “Silverado Strong,” Chevrolet’s theme for the launch of the all-new 2014 Silverado, with the Chevrolet and MLB silhouetted batter logos on either side. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2013 World Series will receive a youth baseball field makeover in a U.S. location of their choice and a 2014 Silverado High Country. This is a continuation of Chevrolet’s year-long SILVERADO STRONG campaign. For more information, fans can visit ChevyBaseball.com.

Commitment to youth baseball is admirable. But the slogan and placards seem to be just as much if not more of a commitment to advertising Chevy trucks. And while the city of Boston doesn’t have a trademark on the word “strong,” they did have the words displayed on their field first, and for purposes that don’t mix the good cause with the commerce:

Wondering how the folks in Boston will take this. Wondering whether anyone at MLB or Chevy realized that, maybe, this wasn’t the greatest idea when it comes to large, on-field sloganeering.