McDonald's will roll out a new series of spots
featuring free-style gold medal winner Jonny Moseley, figure
skater Michael Weiss and members of the U.S. bobsled team,
according to USA TODAY's Melanie Wells. The ad, by DDB
Needham, has the athletes being asked, "What's your favorite
thing about Nagano?" They respond, "We love the Japanese
food!" while holding up french fries. Wells also reports
that AT&T plans to shoot another spot featuring U.S. women's
ice hockey captain Cammi Granato (USA TODAY, 2/17).
HOLY MOSELEY! USA TODAY's Jill Leiber wrote that gold
medal winner Moseley will appear at the national ski show in
Las Vegas next week and "already there's talk of book and
movie deals." Agents "are stalking him" (USA TODAY, 2/16).
ROSS HITS HOME: Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati
has "tentatively agreed to sign with IMG" and is
"entertaining a stream of sponsorship and endorsement
offers." One "prospect is Nike, which Rebagliati had been
courting for two years." Rebagliati: "They haven't been
interested, until now" (CP, 2/17). Rebagliati was a guest
on the "Tonight Show." Rebagliati, when finding out that he
had tested positive for marijuana: "I was just like 'Holy
Smokes.'" Leno: "Holy smokes?" (NBC, 2/17).
NOTES: USA TODAY's Melanie Wells writes the '98 Games
"may be remembered as the first in a decade when ambush ad
wars didn't take center stage on site. These are the polite
Games." Wells adds that while Nike has had a presence, "few
people so far are complaining, including Olympic organizers"
(USA TODAY, 2/16)....Kodak's sponsorship was profiled by
Kevin Oklobzilja of the Rochester DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE.
Kodak has a processing center on site and a company
spokesperson said it will process an average of 4,000 to
5,000 rolls a day and do 70,000-75,000 during the Games
(DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 2/13)....The phones "haven't stopped
ringing" at Durango, CO-based Bula Inc., the manufacturer of
the "Neon Leopard Kilimanjaro" hats like the ones sported by
Jonny Moseley and other skiers (DENVER POST, 2/14). Bula is
"quickly making 20,000 hats and expects to have them in
sporting-goods stores this week, for about $25" (N.Y. TIMES,
2/15)....Roots, the outfitter of the Canadian Olympic team,
is "having trouble keeping" its polar fleece hats on the
shelves after its Olympic exposure (TORONTO STAR, 2/17).
