There must have been some heads rolling in the broadcast booth (no pun intended), as FOX’s coverage of the 2017 MLB World Series was disrupted by an advertising snafu. That isn’t a Photoshop mockup above, it’s an actual frame from the FOX broadcast of Game 2 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Houston Astros when center fielder George Springer’s head was chopped off by a billboard.
This was likely a local or regional broadcast of the game, meaning, most of the country probably didn’t see this happen with the masterpass billboard (although other markets may have seen it happen with another ad).
The advertisement uses a masking type of technology where a determined camera shot has the banner overlaid onto the actual live billboard. If you notice in the video below, the ad looked fine until the camera zoomed in too close, then, Springer’s upper body was covered by the ad.
Other billboard advertising in sports may use a greenscreen type of technology where a specified area is filled with whatever advertisement a station wants to display. The broadcasting technology allows stations to target regional markets with localized advertising.
[Correction: The original article title referred to Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Chris Taylor.]
