AND 1 is "capitalizing off" Knicks G Latrell Sprewell's
"notoriety and rebirth," according to Shaun Powell of
NEWSDAY, who wrote that AND 1 VP/Marketing Jay Gilbert "saw
no risk at all" in hiring Sprewell as an endorser. Gilbert:
"All we were trying to say is Latrell is human and made a
mistake. He did his time, paid his fine and moved on. And
it was time for everyone to do the same, to move on."
Powell wrote that AND 1's "American Dream" TV spot has "sent
a chill up the spine of conservative America," but it
"strikes a different nerve with the Gen Xers, the target
audience" of the company, who "silently cheered Sprewell
during the clumsy aftermath of choking" his former coach,
P.J. Carlesimo (NEWSDAY, 5/23). In N.Y., William Rhoden
writes that Sprewell, along with Knicks F Marcus Camby,
"have become heroes" at MSG. Sprewell "hasn't embraced the
fans as much as he has respected them and expressed
gratitude" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/24). But also in N.Y., Phil
Mushnick wrote, "While bad-is-good salesmanship is nothing
new, the selection of Sprewell to serve as a company's
spokesperson is nonetheless disturbing" (N.Y. POST, 5/23).
BETTER BAD THAN GOOD? Today Mushnick writes that NBC
"aired a terrific piece" on recently retired Pistons G Joe
Dumars during halftime of the Hawks-Knicks Game Three
yesterday, but asks, "If Dumars was the ideal, the very best
the NBA could offer, how come NBC didn't spend a lot more
time promoting him the last 10 years? How come, instead of
Dumars, NBC provided so much of the limelight to the bad
guys and the showoffs? Why did it sell America Dennis
Rodman instead of Joe Dumars? If Dumars was the ideal, how
come advertisers didn't push him as their spokesperson? ...
The answer's easy: Dumars was the antithesis of garbage, and
nothing sells better than garbage" (N.Y. POST, 5/24).
