The Coors TV ads featuring John Elway and ESPN's Dan
Patrick were examined by Mike Littwin of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN
NEWS, who wrote, "I don't know who is advising Elway, or if
anyone is advising Elway. But, barely into his retirement,
he has already made a colossal misjudgment [to appear in the
ads]. I'm thinking he should have stuck to golf, where they
give you mulligans. Not only is making beer commercials the
wrong thing to do, it cheapens the product, Elway's name
being the product. You don't see Michael Jordan [in beer
ads]. ... You see B-level guys -- George Brett and Robin
Yount for example" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/18). In L.A.,
Tom Hoffarth: "What did you expect, John Elway to pass on
doing a commercial for Coors beer?" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 7/19).
PATRICK'S DEFENSE: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick wrote, "Dan
Patrick must be another guy starving to death. Why else
would the nation's premier sports news anchor become a paid
commercial spokesman for a beer company? It's bad enough
that Patrick appears in ESPN commercials making cozy with
athletes he's ostensibly charged to cover. But to maintain
one's standing as a serious broadcast journalist while
simultaneously shilling for Coors is to give one's
credibility a shove in the wrong direction." Patrick: "I
wrestled with the decision [to do the spots]. But I don't
shill for Coors. I don't hold the beer in my hand, I don't
mention Coors and I'm not heard in the commercials
encouraging anyone to drink beer, let alone Coors. And that
was at my insistence." Mushnick: "You're either in or
you're out, and Patrick's in" (N.Y. POST, 7/18).
