Christ, What an Asho
March 11, 2025 10:57 AM Subscribe
In a triumph of graphic design and branding, Major League Baseball’s new ‘Overlap’ hats are going viral for all the wrong reasons.
(honk shoo mmmi)
posted by Going To Maine at 11:02 AM on March 11 [6 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 11:02 AM on March 11 [6 favorites]
Oh... wow... these are horrible and hilarious. How in the world does this even get to the prototyping stage without someone noticing how bad the designs are and just mocking the whole idea into oblivion?
posted by kikaider01 at 11:03 AM on March 11 [12 favorites]
posted by kikaider01 at 11:03 AM on March 11 [12 favorites]
For a little context, New Era had a terrible series of hats last year that included this incredible gem. So count me in the camp of cynics online who are thinking these annual releases of janky-ass hats that get a ton of attention might be going viral for precisely the reasons they intended.
Given the recent spate of politicians and influencers who seem to succeed no matter how offensive and terrible the product they put out is, this just seems like the material manifestation of that.
posted by robot_jesus at 11:04 AM on March 11 [28 favorites]
Given the recent spate of politicians and influencers who seem to succeed no matter how offensive and terrible the product they put out is, this just seems like the material manifestation of that.
posted by robot_jesus at 11:04 AM on March 11 [28 favorites]
Bewilderingly lazy; Seattle sure lucks out though. (Masers )
posted by clew at 11:04 AM on March 11 [4 favorites]
posted by clew at 11:04 AM on March 11 [4 favorites]
ha ha those suck
posted by Lemkin at 11:14 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 11:14 AM on March 11 [3 favorites]
You haven't been to a real baBel game until you've been to a BoBon game at FeFway.
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:14 AM on March 11 [27 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:14 AM on March 11 [27 favorites]
what the heck
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:21 AM on March 11
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:21 AM on March 11
How in the world does this even get to the prototyping stage without someone noticing
They noticed. They know exactly what they are doing. Metafilter is now part of their viral marketing campaign.
posted by Nelson at 11:22 AM on March 11 [28 favorites]
They noticed. They know exactly what they are doing. Metafilter is now part of their viral marketing campaign.
posted by Nelson at 11:22 AM on March 11 [28 favorites]
I would totally root for the Narwhals.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:22 AM on March 11 [8 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:22 AM on March 11 [8 favorites]
Sometimes it feels like these sports leagues are merchandise companies with an ancillary game thing happening. (So many of the "different" designs are ass)
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:30 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:30 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Look, there are all kinds of more important reasons, both moral and practical, why DEI initiatives are a net gain for everybody...
HOWEVER, let it also be noted that having Latinx people on the staff could have alerted New Era that "TETAS" means "TITS" in Spanish.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:31 AM on March 11 [34 favorites]
HOWEVER, let it also be noted that having Latinx people on the staff could have alerted New Era that "TETAS" means "TITS" in Spanish.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:31 AM on March 11 [34 favorites]
Nothing but T&A for Texas teams.
posted by emjaybee at 11:33 AM on March 11 [10 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 11:33 AM on March 11 [10 favorites]
How much fun are these? I like but probably not enough to actually want one. If I was gonna get one it would have a to be an Anaels cap for the little detail of the point of the A going through the darkness of the halo. Somebody decided to go big….
posted by ashbury at 11:34 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by ashbury at 11:34 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
This is not a mystery to me. It's what happens when it's not politically acceptable to tell someone important that they have a bad idea, mixed with the overall undervaluing of creative work.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 11:41 AM on March 11 [9 favorites]
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 11:41 AM on March 11 [9 favorites]
It seems clear this was intentional, given they don't all follow the same pattern of Location/Team Name, so it looks like they chose whichever combo would be funniest.
posted by obfuscation at 11:44 AM on March 11 [6 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 11:44 AM on March 11 [6 favorites]
Ya gotta have reach, and ugliness has reach. We absolutely wouldn't be talking about these hats if they looked good and stylish, and the aesthetics of sport are forever trending to the loud and garish. Still think it would be a great thrift store find.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:49 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by Going To Maine at 11:49 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]
It's hard for me to imagine circumstances under which, at the present time, I would consider buying any MLB merchandise (when it would mean contributing to the fortunes of the almost uniformly terrible people and families who are franchise owners) but I almost wish that I had been in the market for some merch because I hate these so much I want to go to extra lengths to reject them.
edited to add: nod of respect for the post title, though!
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:01 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
edited to add: nod of respect for the post title, though!
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:01 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
For a little context, New Era had a terrible series of hats last year that included this incredible gem.
The Oakland Asshats is an incredible team name.
posted by mazola at 12:05 PM on March 11 [11 favorites]
The Oakland Asshats is an incredible team name.
posted by mazola at 12:05 PM on March 11 [11 favorites]
HAHAHA THAT'S AWFUL ok life is worth living again, thank you awful hats
posted by Hermione Dies at 12:08 PM on March 11 [14 favorites]
posted by Hermione Dies at 12:08 PM on March 11 [14 favorites]
Ooles, BoBon, Yanyees, RTBs, Blbirdys, ChSoxago, Guacans, Dedoit, ROKCals, TTCns, Ashos, Anaels, Atha’stics, Masers, Tetas, Braaes, MMmi, NewNYork, Phipies, Nawals, Chicago (huh), CinCNati, BrMBrs, Pitpurgh, Carstlals, ARIANA, Colcado Rories, Dolaers, Pasdes, and San Sfcisco.
If I was feeling frivolous and had $50 to blow, I'd definitely get the Anaels hat.
posted by smcdow at 12:11 PM on March 11
If I was feeling frivolous and had $50 to blow, I'd definitely get the Anaels hat.
posted by smcdow at 12:11 PM on March 11
TETAS
So I don't speak Spanish, but I feel like every culture would agree that tetas sounds a bit rude, like bouba/kiki for anatomy.
posted by Hermione Dies at 12:13 PM on March 11 [6 favorites]
So I don't speak Spanish, but I feel like every culture would agree that tetas sounds a bit rude, like bouba/kiki for anatomy.
posted by Hermione Dies at 12:13 PM on March 11 [6 favorites]
Sure, they're terrible. Still not as bad as the uniforms MLB served up last year.
posted by Ber at 12:15 PM on March 11 [6 favorites]
posted by Ber at 12:15 PM on March 11 [6 favorites]
Ya gotta have reach, and ugliness has reach.
Would that the truth of that maxim were confined to the realm of sports team merchandise.
posted by non canadian guy at 12:28 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Would that the truth of that maxim were confined to the realm of sports team merchandise.
posted by non canadian guy at 12:28 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Those are pretty much all amazingly bad. I do kinda like how the NaWals almost looks like "narwhals". (Washington Narwhals would be a way better name than the Washington Nationals. Less chance of people taking their cue from the airport and renaming them the Washington Reagans.)
posted by rmd1023 at 12:32 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 12:32 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
...aaand the Texas hat is no longer on the MLB site shop.
posted by the sobsister at 12:43 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
posted by the sobsister at 12:43 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
Future hot dog vendors plying their trade: "Get your hohhogs heah! Nice and hoh! Ice cold beber!"
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:55 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:55 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
It's like "visual Pig latin" or something.
Absolutely amazing, just really breaks through the walls around calcified finger-quote deesign that are alienating Regular People from creators in their ivory towers. I mean, those overlapping letters on the front of the San Francisco hat are as thick as if you were wearing a headlamp, but yeah, keep these coming!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:59 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
Absolutely amazing, just really breaks through the walls around calcified finger-quote deesign that are alienating Regular People from creators in their ivory towers. I mean, those overlapping letters on the front of the San Francisco hat are as thick as if you were wearing a headlamp, but yeah, keep these coming!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:59 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
What is going on with this Nationals hat that seems to have the notoriously Walgreens-esque "W" logo overlapped over itself?
These are bad in so many different ways. Like, the Angels one also doesn't work because the haloed A in the logo is identical to the A that's already in Angels. A few of them have the same problem to a lesser extent, like Boston and Philly. And Seattle has the compass rose thing duplicated in the overlapped design.
It's kind of surprising this got approved if only because companies are usually so prissy about their logos. I wonder if every team had to sign off?
I don't think most big businesses would be willing to mangle their logos for a little free publicity and merch sales, and if you somehow accidentally published a design like this through bad CSS or printing, you'd get so many urgent phone calls and emails so fast you'd probably need to replace the battery in your phone.
posted by smelendez at 1:01 PM on March 11
These are bad in so many different ways. Like, the Angels one also doesn't work because the haloed A in the logo is identical to the A that's already in Angels. A few of them have the same problem to a lesser extent, like Boston and Philly. And Seattle has the compass rose thing duplicated in the overlapped design.
It's kind of surprising this got approved if only because companies are usually so prissy about their logos. I wonder if every team had to sign off?
I don't think most big businesses would be willing to mangle their logos for a little free publicity and merch sales, and if you somehow accidentally published a design like this through bad CSS or printing, you'd get so many urgent phone calls and emails so fast you'd probably need to replace the battery in your phone.
posted by smelendez at 1:01 PM on March 11
I don't think most big businesses would be willing to mangle their logos for a little free publicity and merch sales
They absolutely would, and are.
That said, they're not offering a hat with all the logos at once? COWARDS.
posted by phooky at 1:23 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
They absolutely would, and are.
That said, they're not offering a hat with all the logos at once? COWARDS.
posted by phooky at 1:23 PM on March 11 [3 favorites]
Chicago (huh)
So it's not 'turtles all the way down', it's 'Chicagos all the way down'.
Midwesterners knew this all along, of course.
posted by jamjam at 1:34 PM on March 11
So it's not 'turtles all the way down', it's 'Chicagos all the way down'.
Midwesterners knew this all along, of course.
posted by jamjam at 1:34 PM on March 11
The "they're doing this on purpose!" argument doesn't convince me much given that these same people fucked up the uniforms last year and that wasn't intentional provocation to drive sales, it was stupidly damaging their own steady earning product.
It it well within this group's wheelhouse to fuck up this cluelessly.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:37 PM on March 11 [8 favorites]
It it well within this group's wheelhouse to fuck up this cluelessly.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:37 PM on March 11 [8 favorites]
I feel reasonably confident actual people produced them but if you had told me that they were the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time generative AI tool I would have readily believed that.
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:42 PM on March 11 [4 favorites]
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:42 PM on March 11 [4 favorites]
I saw the TeTas and AnAels hats the other day and I thought somebody just made it up.
These are real?
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 1:56 PM on March 11 [4 favorites]
These are real?
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 1:56 PM on March 11 [4 favorites]
HOWEVER, let it also be noted that having Latinx people on the staff could have alerted New Era that "TETAS" means "TITS" in Spanish
Are you kidding me? TeTas (and the other, more tangentially dirty ones) are probably the only ones that are going to sell.
posted by atoxyl at 3:00 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
Are you kidding me? TeTas (and the other, more tangentially dirty ones) are probably the only ones that are going to sell.
posted by atoxyl at 3:00 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
For a little context, New Era had a terrible series of hats last year that included this incredible gem.
There was also a series of “drip” hats that flew a bit too close to the sun of “looking like someone ejaculated on the logo.”
posted by atoxyl at 3:06 PM on March 11
There was also a series of “drip” hats that flew a bit too close to the sun of “looking like someone ejaculated on the logo.”
posted by atoxyl at 3:06 PM on March 11
TeTas ... are probably the only ones that are going to sell.
Nope, they've been pulled.
posted by LionIndex at 3:11 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
Nope, they've been pulled.
posted by LionIndex at 3:11 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
HOWEVER, let it also be noted that having Latinx people on the staff could have alerted New Era that "TETAS" means "TITS" in Spanish.
I'll bet they had Spanish speakers on staff and they just stared at it and said they loved it.
Nope, they've been pulled!
Boobs are cancelled. Truly we live in the worst timeline.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:53 PM on March 11 [5 favorites]
I'll bet they had Spanish speakers on staff and they just stared at it and said they loved it.
Nope, they've been pulled!
Boobs are cancelled. Truly we live in the worst timeline.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:53 PM on March 11 [5 favorites]
I'll bet they had Spanish speakers on staff and they just stared at it and said they loved it.
To be fair, this is marketroids we're talking about. You can't expect somebody who doesn't even understand that Words Mean Things in their own language to be on board with believing that they mean things in that foreign jibber-jabber as well.
posted by flabdablet at 5:46 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
To be fair, this is marketroids we're talking about. You can't expect somebody who doesn't even understand that Words Mean Things in their own language to be on board with believing that they mean things in that foreign jibber-jabber as well.
posted by flabdablet at 5:46 PM on March 11 [2 favorites]
their job is to sell hats. this will undoubtedly sell hats. people are talking about how stupid it is, driving attention to... sell hats. the owners don't care as long as they're making money. sounds like winning all around in our 21st c. hellscape.
posted by kokaku at 6:12 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
posted by kokaku at 6:12 PM on March 11 [1 favorite]
I am begging everyone posting that this is a cynical trick to sell hats to take notice of the fact that they stopped selling the hat.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:25 PM on March 11 [6 favorites]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:25 PM on March 11 [6 favorites]
I wonder if these will be as collectable as my old Radio Shack 80085 pocket calculator?
posted by Sauce Trough at 6:51 PM on March 11
posted by Sauce Trough at 6:51 PM on March 11
GRAPHIPASSIONN IS MY
posted by AlSweigart at 7:18 PM on March 11 [10 favorites]
posted by AlSweigart at 7:18 PM on March 11 [10 favorites]
I hope someone points out the Arizona hat to the Arianators so that they make a ton of dough, encouraging New Era to make even worse hats.
posted by LostInUbe at 7:53 PM on March 11
posted by LostInUbe at 7:53 PM on March 11
Boobs are cancelled.
2024: Yes, Sydney Sweeney's Boobs Are Anti-Woke
2025: Boobs Are Totally Woke
posted by lukemeister at 9:05 PM on March 11
2024: Yes, Sydney Sweeney's Boobs Are Anti-Woke
2025: Boobs Are Totally Woke
posted by lukemeister at 9:05 PM on March 11
Not only has the Texas Rangers hat been pulled but I just looked at the New Era site and there's no mention of the hats at all. Sure to be hot items on eBay should anyone have actually bought one.
posted by tommasz at 4:03 AM on March 12
posted by tommasz at 4:03 AM on March 12
Try going to the team stores, not the manufacturer - you can get a Padre version.
posted by LionIndex at 5:36 AM on March 12
posted by LionIndex at 5:36 AM on March 12
I kinda like the Orioles and the Jays ones. Just me?
I think a couple of them look OK, and it seems like the way to make that happen is for the superimposed logo and the underlying text to contrast to a greater degree. So, the Orioles and Jays both have a picture of a bird on their hats, superimpose that over some text and it looks fine. With the Padres, you have the logo, which is text in a certain color, and the text it's put over, which is also text in basically the same font and in the same color and almost the same size, and it looks silly - why not have the logo in one color and outline and have the background text reverse that? San Francisco feels a little better to me because they had to make "SAN FRANCISCO" much smaller than the SF to get it to fit on the hat, but it still looks a little muddy where there's orange text on orange text.
posted by LionIndex at 7:17 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
I think a couple of them look OK, and it seems like the way to make that happen is for the superimposed logo and the underlying text to contrast to a greater degree. So, the Orioles and Jays both have a picture of a bird on their hats, superimpose that over some text and it looks fine. With the Padres, you have the logo, which is text in a certain color, and the text it's put over, which is also text in basically the same font and in the same color and almost the same size, and it looks silly - why not have the logo in one color and outline and have the background text reverse that? San Francisco feels a little better to me because they had to make "SAN FRANCISCO" much smaller than the SF to get it to fit on the hat, but it still looks a little muddy where there's orange text on orange text.
posted by LionIndex at 7:17 AM on March 12 [1 favorite]
Cleveland looks like the Guacadians.
(I still want a Grauniads tshirt, but I doubt many people would get the joke.)
posted by slogger at 11:51 AM on March 12
(I still want a Grauniads tshirt, but I doubt many people would get the joke.)
posted by slogger at 11:51 AM on March 12
Cleveland looks like the Guacadians.
Avocado toast with maple syrup? Not so sure about that. But poutine with avocado on top? Go ahead and put in another order for me, please!
posted by TedW at 12:16 PM on March 12
Avocado toast with maple syrup? Not so sure about that. But poutine with avocado on top? Go ahead and put in another order for me, please!
posted by TedW at 12:16 PM on March 12
I’ve always lobbied (in my head) for pro sports teams to have silly names. The Detroit Platinum Hot Dogs in a doubleheader against the TeTas? Sign me up!
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 2:34 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 2:34 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]
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posted by Going To Maine at 11:00 AM on March 11 [19 favorites]