Reebok Int'l unveiled a new spot featuring White Sox slugger
Frank Thomas touting the Big Hurt line of baseball and cross-
training shoes. TV ads aired on TBS and MTV Sports; Print ads
will soon break in INSIDE SPORTS, SPORT and THE SPORTING NEWS (AD
AGE, 2/20 issue)....For the fifth straight year, Footaction USA
will offer college scholarships to high school seniors who have
successfully combined academics with athletics with its Hooked on
Sports Not Drugs or Violence program (Footaction)....Wendy's
founder Dave Thomas and SKI Magazine are teaming up to help
100,000 children awaiting adoption by participating in the
Wendy's SKI Family Challenge in Keystone, CO, February 23-26.
Proceeds from the newly created national ski event will benefit
the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (Wendy's). ....Mars Inc.
announced that it was dismissing two ad agencies of the Saatchi &
Saatchi Company, ending a 40-year relationship. Mars said BBDO
would join D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles and Grey Advertising to
become the company's "core international agencies" (N.Y. TIMES,
2/22)....The earthquake that shook Kobe, Japan, took a divet in
the golf ball industry. Maxfli and Slazanger both have plants in
Kobe. Maxfli's plant, already old, will move to another location,
while Slazenger will repair its plant and re-open in late April
or early May (USA TODAY, 2/22)....In the current issue of CRAIN'S
CHICAGO BUSINESS, Judith Crown examines some of the reasons for
Sportmart's poor 4th Quarter showing. While the company blames
losses on unseasonably warm winter weather and flooding in CA,
where half its stores are located, analysts say competitors such
as The Sports Authority "are taking a toll" (CRAIN'S CHICAGO
BUSINESS, 2/20-26 issue)....Columnist Bernie Lincicome on the
WTA's decision not to accept Tampax's title sponsorship offer:
"Women's tennis may be the first sport to ever blush its way out
of business" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/22).
