Vinny Cerrato's failure leads to sweet marketing opportunity for Audi

On Friday I, and presumably all Redskins season ticket holders, received an email from the Washington Redskins. The subject line read "Redskins Recruit New Powerhouse."

Dave O,

Today the Washington Redskins appointed a new leader...

Wait, what? And yes, the bold is in the original. Surely this isn't a real message about a significant change in team management... but is it? At the very least I'm now hooked into reading the rest of the email.

... that will strengthen the team with speed, control, spirit, and drive.

Oh shit it's a car.

As a passionate fan, we invite you to experience firsthand what this means for the future of the Washington Redskins.

Click on the video or personalized link below to view this special message:

There was then an embedded video featuring a pretty classy looking picture of a Redskins helmet. It takes you to an ad for the Season of Audi event.

Now I'm not bothered by sponsorship deals; the Redskins are a profit-maximizing business like any other and I don't begrudge them making money.

I also tend to shy away from gratuitous Snyder bashing, not because I disagree with all of it (some is fair, some is unfair) but because there's so much of it out there already I don't feel like I'm contributing anything by piling on.

But in this case Snyder, or someone in his marketing department who presumably needs to get Snyder's sign-off on these things, is actually trying to capitalize on the fan base's disgust with the team management to drive clicks on an Audi ad.

Is this repugnant? Hilarious? Appalling? Sad? I was so floored by this that I honestly can't decide on the appropriate reaction.