The best-laid plans of Olympic sponsors may have gone
"poof!," according to USA TODAY's Horovitz & Wells -- and that is
not just because of the bomb that exploded in Centennial Olympic
Park. Cries of "over-commercialism" (Coca-Cola) and poor
planning (IBM) have damaged the goals of top sponsors. Horovitz
& Wells: "Few sponsors will admit it, but their Olympic
expectations have fizzled." The result may be companies opting
for smaller sponsorships and less risk in the future (USA TODAY,
7/29). As for the bombing, major Park sponsors say the "overall
effect has been minimal," according to the WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Still, AT&T immediately pulled all ads referring to the Global
Olympic Village, replacing them with previously made Olympic
spots. Coca-Cola said it will reopen its Olympic City when the
Park itself reopens (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/29).
AD GRADES: In S.F., Julia Angwin writes, in the TV ad game,
sponsors "are losing out to upstart competitors. ... So far the
most memorable ads have come from nonsponsors" (S.F. CHRONICLE,
7/27). The N.Y. DAILY NEWS profiles the "Pretzel Boy" ads from
Frito-Lay, which managed to "get into the Games," despite not
being an ACOG sponsor (Angela King, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/29). AD
AGE's Bob Garfield: "Man, do these ads ever stink." Garfield
credits Xerox's simple color copier spot as the "best" of the
Games (AD AGE, 7/29 issue). But NEWSDAY's Marvin Kittman calls
some of the ads "more interesting" than NBC's coverage (NEWSDAY,
7/28).
NEWS & NOTES: IOC VP Michael Payne cites athlete feedback
and claims that Nike's ad campaign ("You don't win silver, you
lose gold") is "backfiring." Payne said the IOC had one Nike ad
pulled -- which added "badder" to the Olympic slogan "Faster,
Higher, Stronger." Payne said the IOC will monitor closely new
Nike ads planned for the second week (FINANCIAL TIMES, 7/27-
28)....Visa reports consumers have used their cash cards to pay
for $205,432 worth of merchandise at participating Atlanta
retailers (USA TODAY, 7/29)....The N.Y. TIMES reports restoration
of "at least partial faith" in IBM's results system, with experts
"divided" on fallout among IBM clients (N.Y. TIMES, 7/29).
