Instead of denying the irresistible kitsch value of a game played in ugly shoes and baggy aquamarine shirts, they are taking the bowling ball and running with it. But these days, an hour of network television is seen as the kind of lifestyle endorsement you just can't buy. In our view, the show generally portrays bowling as part of the local culture in small-town America. I haven't heard of too many lawyers who have their office in a bowling center, however. So when you see The Bowler, played by Janeane Garofalo, flinging that bowling ball containing her late father's skull, think of the folks at Ebonite.
Guys tell dirty jokes, leer at busty models and more or less make fools of themselves.
In other words, it is the perfect forum for getting your message out to that golden demographic, males 18 to 34. For the men who run Ebonite, it is what you might call a necessary evil. Reid quickly obliged, shipping a slew of balls, bags, wrist guards and apparel to the Los Angeles-based show. He even arranged to have Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, one of the pro bowlers the company sponsors, appear in the segment. No one cares that the segment seems more about the obscenely gorgeous models carrying the bowling balls than the bowling balls themselves.