Michael Jordan's ad for Rayovac renewal batteries is
reviewed by Bob Garfield of AD AGE. Garfield: "For the money
they spent on his contract, Rayovac could have lit up Las Vegas
for a month. Probably should have because Michael looks more
awkward on a battery commercial then he did wearing spikes" (AD
AGE, 9/18 issue)....GOLFWORLD reports "bad news" for Ideon, the
credit card company that sponsored the PGA Tour's New England
Classic. It was forced to lay off 250 employees, "reportedly
because its credit card venture with the PGA Tour Partners
program has stalled at 20,000 members or about 230,000 short of
its goal" (GOLF WORLD, 9/15 issue)....New print ads for the CBA
Chicago Rockers are meant to be "In-Your-Face," according to
Foote Cone & Belding, the agency that came up with the campaign.
The ad features a close up of the screaming mouth of new coach
Dave Corzine, "meant to convey the intimacy of a Rockers games,
where fans are closer to the action" than at the Bulls' United
Center. The tagline, inside a screaming mouth: "New Coach Dave
Corzine As Seen from Row 17, Seat 9" (CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS,
9/17 issue)....VF Corp. announced their third quarter results
with profits 20%-25% below the same period last year. The
clothing maker cited "a difficult back-to-school selling season."
VF will curtail production and inventory (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER,
9/16).... The current BUSINESS WEEK looks at the "comeback" of
the Harlem Globetrotters with the help of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The 69-year-old team has "overhauled its format: To rebuild
attendance, they now play serious basketball." Their recent game
in Zurich drew 45,000. The Globetrotters will pay Jabbar up to
$500,000 for the current European tour where he leads a new
opposition team of other former NBA stars. Under new owner
Mannie Jackson, who bought the team in '93, Globetrotters
attendance has "surged" 30% to 2 million (BUSINESS WEEK, 9/25
issue).
