Burger King Corp. will "make its first major foray" into
sports marketing next month with a promotion involving college
football. With the deal, BK will go head-to-head with rival
McDonald's, who will run their "annual tie-in" with the NFL this
fall. BK's promo features collector cups with legendary NCAA
players and coaches, such as Penn State's Joe Paterno, and will
include a 900-number that fans can call to vote for their
favorite college football players. The calls will also help BK
build its customer database. The company is reportedly also
urging marketers to "partner with local college teams for October
promotions." The BK promo will have network TV spots handled by
Ammirati & Puris/Lintas, New York. Pizza Hut is the official
sponsor of the NCAA, but BK "is getting around that through
sponsoring the National College Football Hall of Fame," and is
committing $600,000 over three years as the first corporate
sponsor of the Hall (Jeanne Whalen, AD AGE, 7/24 issue). BK's
promotion will "likely" include a link to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED,
according to BRANDWEEK. NJ-based Integrated Sports Int'l has
been hired to help BK in its effort. BK is also said to be
"negotiating an umbrella package involving several conferences,"
much like Hardee's deal with the Big East, Big Ten and other
conferences (Benezra & Stanley, BRANDWEEK, 7/24 issue).
