The funniest part to me is that the ads ask, "Would you [say that]?"
Of course I would say the WNBA is trash! I mean, who hasn't said that?
Not to mention all the viewers who would say "Wait - there's a
WNBA??
But yeah, I don't understand why the WNBA keeps going for the "faint praise/backhanded compliments" angle - wow, the top women's teams in maybe the world could beat my YMCA team? Impressive!
I remember a Nike ad when the WNBA first came out that featured 3 top women's players (Lisa Leslie, I think Sheryl Swoopes, and a point guard I've forgotten) going to a playground in NYC to play pickup with men. The final line in the voiceover was something like "and this isn't a fairy tale, because they didn't win every game, but they won enough...to get respect". All I could think was, wait, these are the 3 best women's players in the world, and they can't hold the court at a random playground (this wasn't Rucker Park or anything, mind you) in NYC? That...doesn't really say much for the league.