It’s been a year now since the NFL started selling officially licensed beer pong tables. Oh sure, they call them “Tailgating Tables” but we all are smart enough to see through that load of crap. If you are new here and want to be brought up to speed on this ongoing controversy and hypocrisy, you can read previous posts we have done on this matter, click HERE, HERE and HERE.
I had known for quite some time that the NFL was going to somehow dodge the “Are you selling beer pong tables with your logo and team franchise logos on it?” question. They dodge any backlash by not selling the tables with the logos actually stuck on the tables. They would sell you the tables that had a football field design on them and then the stickers were then included with the table on a separate sheet. It was up to the consumer to place the decals on the beer pong, er, I mean, tailgating table. That way the NFL was not selling beer pong tables with their teams’ logos. Kind of a chicken way out of it but I guess their high priced lawyers said that would be the best way.
Now comes an email from Kevin, a reader of TailgatingIdeas.com. He recently purchased an NFL Beer Pong Table, NFL Tailgating Table, and it arrived the other day. He decided to snap a few photos of the sticker pack that came with his table and fired off this email to us:
Hey Dave – thought this was interesting. I finally got my “tailgate pong” table. It comes with a sticker sheet for the team you ordered – 2 end zone stickers and 2 mid field stickers. And very interestingly – a blank spot with a missing sticker that says “logo”. Hmmm, what logo could they be talking about? Maybe the logo of a certain over-protective sports league that didn’t want their logo all over a beer pong, er…I mean tailgate pong table??
-Kevin
(Click images for larger, more detailed view)
Kevin brings up a fantastic point. If this table is really and truly a tailgating table to place your buffet spread on or to use as a table tennis table, why would the NFL shield decal be mysteriously missing? You would think that activities as wholesome and benign as serving food and playing ping pong that the NFL would want their logo to be associated with such a family friendly activity. Or is this a passive admission that the NFL knows these are beer pong tables but does not want their coveted and protected shield associated with such paraphernalia that encourages binge drinking? You are smart people. I am confident you can come to your own conclusions as to why that logo was intentionally taken off the sticker sheet.
The real kicker would be for Kevin to call up the manufacturer (Wild Sales LLC, 937 Keystone Way Carmel, IN 46032-2823 – (317) 848-8800) of this table and let them know his table was shipped with some parts missing. He could explain that the sticker sheet is incomplete and that it is clearly visible that the “logo” sticker was removed prior to shipping. He could also ask for a refund because the product was not complete or ask that they send along another sticker sheet that is not missing any stickers. Or maybe that might be a good project for me to take on tomorrow morning…
Thanks Kevin for the email and the photos.