Ohio State University rolled out a new graphic ahead of Saturday’s game against Penn State, and it’s predictably causing a lot of outcry.
Ohio State, which has been in the news after allegations that head coach Urban Meyer ignored alleged domestic violence by former assistant Zach Smith, follows a tradition of dressing in all white during their game against Penn State. (RELATED: POLL: THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO WANT URBAN MEYER FIRED MIGHT SURPRISE YOU)
But their hype campaign for Saturday seems to have completely forgotten the allegations about Meyer’s silence.
Silence the white noise.#GoBucks #WinTheMoment pic.twitter.com/sipz9AsB8s
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 26, 2018
Naturally, a lot of people criticized the “silence” campaign and called it tone-deaf.
Taking tone-deafness and ignorance to a new low, Ohio State is promoting this weekend’s game at Penn State with a marketing campaign with “Silence” as its tag line. https://t.co/XF8Z7Pmq47
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) September 27, 2018
“Silence” seems to be a popular theme at Ohio State the last couple months https://t.co/hQlOGmEWbe
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) September 27, 2018
It’s tough to be more tone deaf than Ohio State promoting their game against Penn State with a “Silence.” graphic https://t.co/M9Q8tOvlQB pic.twitter.com/LtKc64rYHH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 27, 2018
From @nrarmour: You’ve already made it clear how much you prize ‘Silence,’ Ohio State. No need for the reminder https://t.co/HAltJwZ5NB via @usatoday
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) September 27, 2018
Does Ohio State even care at this point? Or are they just trying to trigger people? We already had to live through Urban Meyer’s unapologetic apology tour with ESPN earlier this month, where he claimed to feel about “the perception” that he was silent about abuse against women. At this point, it really just feels like the Buckeyes are trolling us.
And here’s the craziest part. It seems like Ohio State only powers up after this stuff. They inject public outcry into their veins and turn it into bone grinding success. The more the internet hates them, the better they get. And this ad just seems like the latest attempt at ginning up controversy ahead of a very important game.