Very Scientific Study on Uniformz: 56.8% Dislike, 15% Like
Michigan Football's Facebook Page posted a simple question:
Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down.
I went through and tallied 665 of the comments. That's not all of them, but after a while the percentages stayed the same, so I'm saying this is a SCIENTIFICALLY SOUND representation of the FB page's population. It took far too long to go through 650+ so I decided not to keep going through the now 3000 comments. Like I said, the percentages started holding pretty strong around n=300, so should be representative. I ignored trolls and unrelated posts.
| Like | 102 | 15.3% |
| Dislike | 378 | 56.8% |
| Helmets: Yes! Uniforms: No! | 154 | 23.1% |
| Meh | 13 | 1.9% |
| Helmets: No! Uniforms: Yes! | 18 | 2.7% |
I had other categories as well, such as "Sarcasm" and "slappy." The former of which generally disliked the jerseys, the later of which said "anything Blue wears is good" so I did not include them in the "Like" category.
Representative "Like" Comment
SWAGG! Matt finish to the helmets!! And the jersey is to fly!
Representative "Dislike" Comment
Next thing we are going to do is make a dubstep knockoff of the Victors
Representative Pro-Helmet, Anti-Jersey Comment
Helmet ok. Jersey looks horrible. Go back to the traditional jersey.
Representative "Meh" Comment
meh
Representative Anti-Helmet, Pro-Jersey Comment
helmet looks awful and the shirt looks a little better
BONUS: Sarcasm Comment
You want a good idea? Yellow Jersey and blue numbers
Kinda fun to laugh at. I wouldn't take this too seriously, except that the M Football FB page is usually full of slappies that will "Like" anything that is posted, so I thought this was a funny enough to share.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:00 PM ^
Appreciate the hard work. Although I bet this is is schewed since someone is probably more likely to simply "like" the photo if they like rather it than comment on it. Whereas there's no way to show your dislike for the uniform other than by commenting.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:05 PM ^
This. Like during phone or live interviews, people are more likely to speak up if they disagree with something.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:59 PM ^
I'll admit I didn't think about that... usually I would have because I always think about the blind fandom that Facebook fosters.
Maybe it was because they literally asked "thumbs up or thumbs down."
Regardless, this study remains very scientific. And really, I'm surpised anyone has taken this VERY SCIENTIFIC study seriously at all. I thought my "n=300" put the sarcasm over the top. :( Probably not.
It does bring up interesting sampling questions. Is a disliker more likely to comment b/c they do not have the ability to hit a button? Common sense says probably, but to what degree? It's questions like these that I'm sure are never brought up in big board room meetings where some 55 yr old dude says "1 million fans on facebook like RAWK MUZAK"
December 19th, 2012 at 4:12 AM ^
turns out you can measure a lot of things with an n very lower than 300. Most people push for higher N numbers, but eventually you are only measuring slight experimental biases rather than content, such as what option comes first or what time of day it is.
That said, you experiment is VERY SCIENTIFIC.
December 19th, 2012 at 9:04 AM ^
December 19th, 2012 at 10:56 AM ^
Or the fact that a large faction of the fanbase does not have the Facebook and cannot vote. Interesting that the Athletic Department chose to only seek out the opinions of teenagers and youngsters when they were conducting this poll. I wonder what the results would have been had the survey been conducted properly by mailing out a ballot to the alumni.
~Herm
December 19th, 2012 at 11:05 AM ^
Hate to break it to you, Herm, but to a marketing-focused exec like David Brandon, people like you and me—i.e., "old people" who aren't wealthy, connected donors—are completely and totally irrelevant, unimportant, insignificant, and whatever other adjective connoting "useless" you care to use. Our demographic could be 99.99% opposed to the new unis and DB still wouldn't give a shit. Why should he? We're not the ones who are his target market.
December 19th, 2012 at 2:24 PM ^
You're making me want to jump on the ice floe.
Seriously, old folks loves the Facebook and are a fast-growing segment of its userbase.
Regardless, you are correct that Dave gives not one tiny shit about us, but it's nice to see that a good portion of the segment he does care about thinks these uniforms suck.
December 19th, 2012 at 3:31 PM ^
Nah, there's still plenty of fun left for us, but we're just not the free-spending demographic that Dave cares about.
I agree that it is heartening that any percentage of the UM fans who are young enough to be my grandchildren don't like all this uniformz crap, but at the end of the day Brandon is going to balance the cost of producing and marketing the new crap against the sales. I suspect that even if he was just breaking even he'd still do it because each time they introduce some new clowniform it means more PR for UM.
December 19th, 2012 at 4:34 PM ^
As long as some kind of profit is turned on the sales of the new uni's, they'll keep doing it.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:01 PM ^
They're just plain awful. Terrible. Gah.
December 19th, 2012 at 6:52 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:06 PM ^
Think they're feelin' the heat for this?
December 18th, 2012 at 10:16 PM ^
December 19th, 2012 at 10:05 AM ^
I'm sure he'll respond somewhat similar to how he responded to the last fan uproar . . . "I don't care." I guess his sh-t don't stink.
December 19th, 2012 at 10:23 AM ^
DB always thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, and as long as he's seeing a positive return on new jersey sales, he'll feel entirely justified in his mind to tell his detractors to fuck off. The only critics he will ever pay attention to are big donors. I doubt very much whether he even cares what MSC or the Regents thinks of him. He's the highest-paid UM employee, and in DB's world that means he's at the top of the pyramid.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:07 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:07 PM ^
How many comments were there along the lines of "how can any of you possibly care at all?"
Just curious if I'm alone.
December 19th, 2012 at 9:58 AM ^
December 19th, 2012 at 10:58 AM ^
We'll see your reaction when we're wearing camouflage like ohio. And don't you dare tell me it can't happen, the helmet has already been changed.
~Herm
December 20th, 2012 at 9:17 AM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:10 PM ^
Selection bias and yadda yadda.
But for real, I wonder if each subsequent clown-iform gets less and less popular than the previous one, now that people realize that it's not something special, but just diluting the brand.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:28 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:11 PM ^
Since this generally agrees with my feelings, I am going to believe the results are scientifically sound.
Am I doing this science thing correctly?
December 19th, 2012 at 8:57 AM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:12 PM ^
Good use of the term "slappies."
December 18th, 2012 at 10:19 PM ^
I was surprised how many people commented that they were "totaly ba11er". I suppose I just get tricked into thinking all Michigan fans are like mgobloggers when in reality the exiles lurk on mlive, facebook, and espn
December 18th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:33 PM ^
When it comes to being rational, a lot of the people that comment on Michigan's facebook page are a buck short of a dollar. Some comments on there make you want to go
December 18th, 2012 at 10:43 PM ^
i think this experiment is invalid because people are more likely to show deproval than express approval.
December 19th, 2012 at 12:10 AM ^
Exactly, especially when they can "like" a post but can't "dislike" it. Selection bias at work here.
In unrelated news, your signature is enormous.
December 19th, 2012 at 10:02 AM ^
thats what she said
December 18th, 2012 at 10:47 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:54 PM ^
I'm firmly in the Helmets Yes! Uniforms Meh! category.
The matte helmets are just absolutely amazing. The uniforms, well, the only thing i don't like is the large numbers. Beats the bumblebee stripes, I think.
From some of my looking around on MGoBlog I would suspect the Helmets Yes Uniforms No to be perhaps a bit higher, but that was really my only surprise.
December 18th, 2012 at 11:45 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 10:56 PM ^
I don't mind uniformz at all. Honestly, I kind of wish the Sugar Bowl one was our regular away uni. I will say, however, that these jerseys are kind of ugly, but I don't get what all the stress is all about. Life is too short to panic about this kind of thing.
December 19th, 2012 at 10:19 AM ^
So who's panicking? I think every one of the so-called legacy jerseys has sucked various degrees of ass, and the fucking around with the helmet is especially egregious. If you think I'm going to lose one second of sleep over it, you're mistaken.
It will be interesting to see the reaction when Brandon finally figures out a way to get advertising into the Big House, and when we see the first mascot roaming the endzone.
December 19th, 2012 at 2:57 PM ^
Leave it to a genius marketing, CEO type to take one of the most recognized brand looks in America and keep diddling with it until it loses its appeal.
Also, current players and recruits opinions on the uniform should not be taken into consideration.
December 19th, 2012 at 3:37 PM ^
Keep in mind where DB comes from. Michigan football is just another product, like pizza or mass-mailed coupons.
Don Canham also sold the hell out of Michigan football as a product, but the difference between he and Brandon is that Canham never significantly messed around with the visual brand identity of the product itself. I suspect Bo would have had a fit of apoplexy if Canham had tried anything like what's going on today.
December 19th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^
In terms of petty things to complain about, this is right up there.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:57 PM ^
December 19th, 2012 at 10:57 AM ^
My first reaction was that homicide is not a reasonable response to those who don't like Brandon's new jerseys, but then we are talking about the most powerful individual in Washtenaw County, so who knows. Never get in a land war with a man who once led Domino's Pizza.
December 18th, 2012 at 11:02 PM ^
This is the best poll analysis I've ever read.
Thumbs up.
December 18th, 2012 at 11:15 PM ^
I still have the same question for Mr. David Brandon; what do we get out of this foolishness? What's the payoff?
If we are to believe that these variant designs really turn on some of our current/prospective 19 year old players (the same ones smoking weed in some cases); can we somehow quantify that benefit to Michigan football? If it is really a big deal to kids (and we somehow believe that turning over our most iconic symbols to fashion is worth it); what exactly is that value. What's it worth?
If it is "all about the money" (it is always all about the money); can you tell us how much? How much are we getting for this insult to Michigan's athletic tradition(s)? What, exactly, are we getting out of it? How much have we made off the UTL jerseys? And how much have we made off the MSU/bee, Bamastomp, and Sugar Bowl designs? I'd really like to know.
Is this an adidas thing? Are we somehow obligated to go along with adidas and allow them to flog new designs a couple of times a year? Has anybody seen our adidas contract lately?
December 18th, 2012 at 11:26 PM ^
December 19th, 2012 at 12:04 AM ^
And how many times has Texas changed their uniforms in recent memory?
December 19th, 2012 at 12:14 AM ^
Only small changes. Nothing major. And no special uniformz that I can think of. Here's a history. Oddly, apparently, they all went to a mid-riff design in the 1977. Wild and crazy times they were then.
December 19th, 2012 at 10:48 AM ^
I don't remember exactly when, or who they were playing, but I thought UT used a uniform sometime in the last couple years that had some black in it.
EDIT: Here they are. Not sure if they actually wore them in a game though, since the linked article says they were only samples. I could have sworn I saw those in a game sometime, but maybe not.
December 19th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^
Once I looked at the pic, I agree, I thought I could remember seeing those once. But I can find no proof they were ever worn in a game.