WNBA Sol Exec VP & CMO Michael McCullough said the team
"wanted to play up [the] angle" of F Yolanda Moore being a
"mom who's playing professional sports" in a billboard
campaign for the team's inaugural season, according to
Elizabeth Clarke of the PALM BEACH POST. The ad, which
reads, "I will sacrifice my body to preserve my Sol,"
"offends a few and makes some ... wary, because promoting
women athletes as moms could be seen as demeaning their
athletic abilities." NBC basketball analyst Ann Meyers, on
this promotional approach: "In essence, it's a positive.
But we cannot overextend that." But McCullough said that he
has received "only positive feedback to the billboards."
McCullough: "There are only a few players who are moms in
the WNBA. We have one of them. ... I think most women
really appreciate [mothers who are pro athletes]." While
WNBA President Val Ackerman has "tried to promote her
players" in a "tasteful" manner, Sol G Debbie Black
"wouldn't mind seeing a harder [marketing] push" from the
league -- "regardless of taste." Black: "I say promote us
and market us and any exposure we can get -- as long as
we're not in jail and beating someone up -- anything else is
terrific" (P.B. POST, 5/28). See (#13) for more on the WNBA.
