Hognoxious Digs Watershed

Bobby “Hognoxious” Smittle is one of the most recognizable baseball fans in the Southeastern Conference.
Smittle now is gaining exposure through another venue as a spokesperson for the Illinois River Watershed Partnership. Smittle has been featured on two TV commercials as “The Dirt Guy” as part of a marketing campaign to increase awareness about the importance of having your soil tested.
Smittle, a media buyer for Maloney Marketing Group of Cave Springs, which is handling the IRWP’s marketing, said the company’s copywriter simply asked if he was interested in helping while writing the commercials.
“We’ve got a great response,” Smittle said. “The whole idea is to get people aware of it and the commercials don’t look like anything else on TV, so that helps draw attention.”
Smittle has been a season ticket holder at Arkansas baseball games since 1987 and is familiar to regulars from his first row seat behind the Razorbacks’ dugout. He leads cheers (and jeers toward opponents), waves a huge Arkansas flag and walks the dugout roof with a broom when the team is on the verge of completing a sweep.