Marketing damage control

This TV spot “Evil Twin” for the European-issued Ford Sportka has been making the rounds online and in the news. At first I wasn’t shocked, but really: it crosses the line. A little too senselessly sadistic. But well done.
In other extreme marketing news [AdAge.com], baseball has killed a component of its latest revenue scheme – Spidey Man’s movie mug on the actual bases – after public opinion roasted the idea. “Nobody loves tradition and history as much as I do,” Mr. [Major League Baseball Commissioner] Bud Selig said during a press conference announcing the ads would be pulled.
Mr. Selig could take a lesson in damage control from a pro like Rumsfeld, who’s been apologizing lateley for his army’s prisoner abuse in Iraq and doing a nice job of feeding the public its bad medicine before the “worst” is yet to come, i.e. the even more disturbing footage of abuse. Rumsfeld’s effectivley preparing the public for the worst by making supposedly honest, forthcoming, pre-emptive apologies.
It’s always nice to apologize once for everything that’s happened and is going to happen or might happen, like just get it over with one time so you’re in the clear. And so it could go in the realm of advertising: “You think selling movies on the bases is low, just be thankful we haven’t gone through with the Spidey Man player uniforms, the Batman theme song before the National Anthem. Google-coloured balls, Sony jumbotron with Microsoft ads behind the catcher…”