John Hancock and Xerox agreed to continue as worldwide
Olympic sponsors and will be part of the IOC's TOP program
covering the '98 Nagano and 2000 Sydney Games. Details were not
disclosed, but Roger Marment, Senior VP at ISL, which brokered
the deal, said there was an increase beyond the $40M committed by
each to the TOP program for Atlanta (ISL).
WHO'S UP: The WALL STREET JOURNAL gives medals for top
commercials during the Games. Golds go to Kodak, where a teen
photographs a UFO, and McDonald's, where a small boy take off
from a starting block and viewers see him change to an Olympic
runner. Silvers go to Doritos, with its monkey ad. Bronze to
IBM, where Australian's are talking about the 2000 Games, and a
thumbs down Tin medal goes to Delta, in which British actor Nigel
Havers goes around the world. The JOURNAL notes that with 100
ads, Coca-Cola's message has become "diluted" (WALL STREET
JOURNAL, 7/26). Stefan Fatsis of the JOURNAL notes most
advertisers "are crowing" with NBC's high ratings and some wonder
if NBC "underpriced" its advertising. But some advertisers are
reportedly not pleased because NBC has "saturated its prime-time
coverage with profiles and commentary ... placing some ads far
from the actual competition" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/26).
NEWS & NOTES: Reebok's support of the Russian Olympic team
is profiled in the WASHINGTON POST. Reebok signed a four-year
deal worth $10M with the Russian Olympic Committee, 23 of the
country's federations and nearly all of the 450 athletes
(WASHINGTON POST. 7/26)....SI's Gary Smith, on the "orgy of
commercialism" in Atlanta: "When you select, for cash and
convenience, a landlocked city with little vestige of its past
... well, then, don't you deserve all the plywood and tent poles
you get?" (SI, 7/29 issue).
