The American team Counter Logic Gaming was once a big deal in League of Legends: In recent years, things haven’t been going well for LoL. Now the team showed a serious crisis conversation in a ‘Sponsored Video’ on Twitter: The manager announces changes to the team. The video was sponsored by Bud Light.
This is the situation:
- Counter Logic Gaming was one of the first LoL teams in the USA and had its heyday in 2015/2016 when they won two championships in a row – back then with legendary players like Doublelift, Xmithie, aphromoo, or Pobelter. But in recent years, things haven’t been going well: In the Spring Split 2021 of the LCS, they finished second to last with 5-13, and currently, they stand with 10-26 in a terrible position.
- There was now a serious team meeting where players were told: The team isn’t functioning, we need to bring in new players. The atmosphere was tense.
- This team meeting was publicly posted as a video on Twitter as part of a beer advertisement for ‘Bud Light’. The backlash against the video was substantial; the Twitter post was taken down after a few hours. The organization apologized for the video.
“You are like brothers to me, but this isn’t working”
What do you see in the clip? The General Manager of the LoL team, Daniel “Tafokints” Lee, speaks some serious words to the downcast players after the team has lost the last two games:
“I will be honest: I’m thinking about changes to the roster. It has been 2 months now, we are not making real progress. There will likely be changes; I’m currently looking at what options we have. So it’s quite possible that this was the last time you all played together.”
Daniel “Tafokints” Lee, General Manager, Counter Logic Gaming
The manager then says: If the players had won the last 3 matches, things might look different. But the team just doesn’t click, apparently doesn’t fit together, even though everyone is doing their best.
It’s hard for him personally; he loves all the players like brothers, but one must understand that: It just isn’t working for the team.
The players seem completely dejected.
This is the absurdity of the video: The video is repeatedly interrupted by advertisements for ‘Bud Light’. It is apparently a ‘Sponsored Video’ for the beer brand.
“Showing this is simply wrong”
This was the reaction: The reaction to the video was mostly negative:
- People felt that the video went too far and showed players in a vulnerable moment. An e-sports commentator said: “No one looks better after this video. Consider taking it down, CLG.”
- The German top coach Fabian “GrabbZ” Lohmann (G2) said: “I can’t even make a joke about this. Showing this is simply wrong.”
However, there were also some isolated positive reactions: Such a crisis meeting is part of the professional business and is authentic. The players earn a lot of money: one should also be allowed to show that.
US viewers apparently know such scenes from TV documentary series about professional sports in the USA like “Hard Knocks”. But even these positive voices found it inappropriate to show such a situation precisely in a Sponsored Video for Bud Light.
This is how CLG responds: Ultimately, they took it down after a few hours. In a statement, they said: They wanted to show an “authentic moment”. Now they recognize the negative light it casts on the players, apologize for that, and have deleted the video.
In the area of “Marketing and PR,” the European top team G2 presents a significantly better image:
LoL: Best player in Europe shaves his head to save his team – And the nonsense works
