A good lesson in not eff'ing it up.

A few new commercials out from Citibank intend to do nothing more than announce the bank's sponsorship of the NY Mets.

These are a charming handful of spots. Cute. Funny. Sure to get a smile from Mets fans or people who know Mets fans, and maybe even people who hate the Mets and love the Yankees. There's nothing unlikeable about them. Check out two below.





What's smart here is actually pretty simple. It's that Citi keeps the focus on the Mets (and of course, recognition of the sponsorship.)

Sounds like a no brainer, but there's a huge opportunity to eff these things up. For instance, Citibank - the bank that gives you free checking, online bill pay, more ATMs per corner AND proudly sponsors the Mets. That would eff 'em up for sure.

Bottom line -- consumers are more likely to have a good feeling about Citibank after seeing these than they would after seeing some eff'd up version where Citibank touts everything under the sun and then eeks out an insincere sponsorship nod.

Everyone knows Citibank has the regular bank stuff. They spend plenty of money and devote plenty of other advertising to make sure people know alllll about the regular bank stuff. But, truth be told, people don't really like to like banks. So, kudos for Citibank for getting that and revealing a little humanity here.

ON STRATEGY.