In what is "believed to be a first in broadcasting," a
condom brand is the official sponsor of this season's
Raiders coverage by KTCT-AM "The Ticket" radio, according to
Carol Emert of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The sponsorship, by
LifeStyles condoms, "may indicate a turning point in the
mainstreaming of condoms." Ads promoting the sponsorship
declare, "LifeStyles is the official condom of Oakland
Raiders broadcasts on The Ticket, 1050-AM. LifeStyles:
Because life is a contact sport." Those 10-second spots
will run before and after all 20 Raiders games this season.
LifeStyles will also have on-site handouts at four Raiders
games. Emert writes that while the LifeStyles promotion
"may offend some listeners," marketing experts said if "any
group is likely to embrace the condom promotion, it is
Raiders followers." Becker Media President Roger Becker
doesn't feel the team will "suffer from the promotion" and
even indicated that "breaching the condom taboo may even
enhance" the NFL team's "bad boy image." The Raiders had no
comment (Carol Emert, S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/14).
