On Christmas Eve, Bruce Binkowski and wife Christina will fly to San Diego, their home for more than 40 years before relocating to Boulder, Montana, in March 2016.
While in town, sports fans will again hear Binkowski’s voice as the public address announcer for the 45th annual Holiday Bowl, San Diego’s annual college football bowl.
Since the Holiday Bowl began in 1978, Binkowski, 75, has worked at every game in various roles.
“I haven’t missed a game,” Binkowski told Times of San Diego. “It is a great thrill for me to still be part of the tradition. How the game has grown over the years is truly amazing.
“When we started the game, we had no idea what we were getting into. But, I couldn’t be more proud of what the game has become over the years. To me, historically speaking, it’s one of the city’s greatest success stories.”
Binkowski was the Holiday Bowl’s first paid employee as public relations director, followed by marketing director, then as its executive director in 2001. He served as executive director of the Holiday Bowl for 14 years (2001-2015) and the Poinsettia Bowl for 10 years (2005-2015).
When he left the executive director jobs following the 2015 games, Binkowski made his rural Montana vacation home since 2005 as his permanent home.
But he has returned to San Diego every year since then to serve as the game’s public address announcer.
Binkowski was succeeded as executive director by Mark Neville, who served under Binkowski as associate executive director beginning in 2001.
“Mark and his staff have done a great job,” Binkowski said. “They have battled through adversity and all the changes in college football, and, yet, made the game an even greater event every year.”
In addition to the Holiday Bowl, Binkowski is known by longtime San Diegans as a favorite media personality and most prolific and tireless PA announcer we’ve had.
His morning sports reports were heard on San Diego news radio stations KSDO-AM and KOGO-AM from 1986 to 1999. He served as a public address announcer for the Padres (1986-1999), the Chargers (1977-1999) and San Diego State University Aztecs football and basketball (1980-2000). He also has worked two World Series, two Super Bowls and an MLB All-Star Game. He figures he’s done PA for more than 3,000 games.
He is a recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the San Diego Hall of Champions sports museum and a 2016 Legacy Award from the Football Bowl Association, as well as the Holiday Bowl’s Hall of Fame.
“The best compliment I ever got as a PA announcer is, `I never really noticed you,’” Binkowski said. “That is always my goal. I didn’t want to be noticed by the fans. I just wanted to give them the information they need and let the game sell itself.”
In Jefferson County, Montana, Binkowski says, “We have reinvented ourselves. It’s a totally different lifestyle, and we love every minute of Big Sky Country.
“We live in a little, 1,700-square-foot house on top of a hill overlooking a valley. Our nearest neighbor is a half-mile west. Our little town has no stop lights, one grocery store, one restaurant, one coffee shop, a gas station and two bars. It’s a quiet lifestyle, but far from boring. We are constantly busy and have really become very involved in the community here.”
Binkowski said he serves as events coordinator overseeing the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, a venue for rodeos, equestrian competitions, weddings, holiday events and community meetings. He also created a website for the county.
He also manages seven low-power FM radio stations for the county that air country music, as well as voice-over work for local radio and TV stations. He also has coached the high school freshman basketball team and currently keeps stats for freshman, junior varsity, and varsity basketball games.
He said Christina serves as a substitute teacher for the local high school. She also serves as chair of the Jefferson County Health Department Board, as vice chair of the Jefferson County Planning Board and on various other boards.
Bruce is involved with countywide events, including a music festival in September, a car show in August, the Jefferson County Fair/Rodeo, and a Christmas parade. “I hang Christmas lights on my 1977 Chevy Blazer and drive down Main Street,” Binkowski said.
They have three grown children and grandchildren from son Rocky of Vista with two children and daughter Shannon of Elizabethtown, Kent. with three children.
Daughter Brooke works as a news editor with Times of San Diego.
Taco Bell Inviting Customers, Not Celebrities, to Star in Super Bowl Spot
Taco Bell, the quick-service restaurant chain based in Irvine, Calif., has announced it will return to the 2025 Super Bowl TV telecast with a commercial for the first time since 2022.
The brand’s Super Bowl spot, slated to air during the third quarter of the Feb. 9 game on Fox, will feature photos of customers who have just ordered food at a Taco Bell drive-through.
Taco Bell’s “Live Más Drive-Thru Cam,” which is basically an oversized photo booth, is appearing this month at select outlets in Los Angeles, Houston, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, Cookeville, Tenn., and Wauchula, Florida.
To participate, customers must be Taco Bell Rewards members. Once the diners have completed their purchase, those who want to participate can stop and scan a QR code to initiate a photo countdown. Then, a camera will take a series of six photos of both the driver and passenger sides of the car. Customers will then be asked to opt in to have their pics considered to be included in the brand’s Super Bowl spot.
“Every day in our drive-thrus, we see moments that are so uniquely our fans, the moments, the memories and the energy that makes Taco Bell who we are,” said Taco Bell’s Taylor Montgomery, chief marketing officer.
“That’s why, for our return to football’s biggest stage, we’re sidelining the celebrities and turning the camera on the fans who already make Taco Bell what it is. We’re inviting Taco Bell Rewards members to come through and do you.”
Taco Bell’s last Super Bowl showing three years ago starred Doja Cat, the pop singer and rapper and avowed fan of the Crunchwrap Supreme.
Media Buying Platform Tap Hires Veteran Radio Exec Mike Agovino
San Diego-based Tap, an omnichannel media commerce buying platform, has named Mike Agovino as vice president of partnership development.
A statement said Agovino will lead Tap’s U.S. partnership initiatives in collaboration with Tap executive VP Mike Glickenhaus, who has been overseeing partnership development since 2022.
Agovino, a veteran radio industry executive, is a former president of Katz Radio, a prominent national sales representation firm that works with more than 2,200 radio stations providing research reports, tools and services.
He also has previous served as chief operating officer of Clear Channel National Sales and co-founder of Triton Digital.
Most recently, Agovino served as president and chief executive officer at Workhouse Connect, a marketing company that creates and monetizes content across various channels, including linear, digital and social media.
“I’m thrilled to join Tap at such a transformative moment for the industry,” said Agovino. “This platform is a true game changer, seamlessly bridging the gap between audience and advertiser. It’s an honor to contribute to this bold vision that’s reshaping the media landscape for the better.”
Tap founder and CEO Chris Edis said, “Mike Agovino is a dynamic leader with unique expertise across traditional and digital media. His deep experience connecting advertisers to audiences and his penchant for playing disruptive roles make him the perfect fit for Tap as we further scale our U.S. business.”
Tap connects supply-side and demand-side partners through an open marketplace. The platform is currently in use by more than 50 media brands in 80 U.S. markets.
Ad Age’s Biggest Brand Fails of 2024
Advertising Age, an advertising industry trade publication, has revealed its list of the biggest brand fails of 2024. The list highlighted several, high-profile marketing mistakes, including a packaging error (Bath & Body Works), offensive copy (Bumble, a dating app), and poorly researched product relaunch.
Among the major blunders:
- Bath & Body Works sold a candle, called “Snowed In,” with packaging that featured snowflakes of white cutouts, a style that drew comparisons the eye holes of Ku Klux Klan hoods. Bath and Body Works pulled the candle from store shelves after social media complaints.
- Billboards for Bumble featured copy that said, “A vow of celibacy is not the answer.” Ad Age wrote, “The brand, which has long sought to empower women, was trying to energize those who might be tired of the dating game. But, women criticized the brand for spreading a message that conflicted with the belief that celibacy is a valid personal choice.” Bumble removed the line from the campaign.
- In July, Adidas released a remake of its SL 72 shoes, which originally debuted during the 1972 Munich Olympics, which are remembered for the murder of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. Stop Antisemitism, an advocacy group, complained that model Bella Hadid, a prominent critic of the Israeli government, was the face of the campaign. Adidas apologized for “any upset or distress caused.”
- Apple apologized for a TV ad that depicted a range of creative tools and objects, including a piano, camera and cans of paint, being destroyed by an industrial crusher. The spot was meant to represent how the iPad can squeeze different creative elements into one thin device. “The ad struck a nerve with viewers who felt the commercial grimly represented technology crushing analogy and traditional human creativity,” wrote Ad Age.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
