Jets President of Operations Bill Parcells and NFL HOF
inductee Joe Montana will be spokespeople for Merck's new
NFL campaign (see THE DAILY, 7/25) around its Zocor
cholesterol reduction drug. The health campaign will stress
cholesterol screenings and consultations with physicians.
Montana: "This appealed to me because it's the No. 1 killer
in the U.S., and it's a sneaky killer" (USA TODAY, 7/27).
As part of the campaign, Parcells will be at the Pro
Football HOF on Saturday, where the league will screen NFL
alumni to try to create an awareness for heart disease and
cholesterol. Parcells said the NFL picked him because,
"I've lived this life ... and I'm an example of a guy that
really ignored a lot of things that were very important to
heart disease" ("Up Close," 7/26).
BOWLED OVER: USA TODAY's Michael McCarthy writes six
months after 17 dot-com, e-commerce and tech companies paid
$2M each to advertise on ABC's Super Bowl XXXIV broadcast,
nine of those "have sacked" their Super Bowl ad agencies or
"quit consumer advertising," and one company is "out of
business." McCarthy: "That leaves just six still with their
agency partner. ... Typically one or two relationships break
up after a Super Bowl bust. But nobody's seen a post-Super
Bowl attrition rate of over 50%" (USA TODAY, 7/27).
WADE-ING THROUGH THE CORPORATE PRESENCE: Bills coach
Wade Phillips, on the corporate atmosphere surrounding the
team's training camp at St. John Fisher College: "With all
this corporate stuff out here, everyone is talking about the
corporate things and how it would affect things and I said
it wouldn't affect anything as far as us practicing. Then
one of our coaches out there today, instead of saying 'run
it again,' he said 'Xerox it'" (DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 7/26).
Xerox is an official training camp sponsor (THE DAILY).
NOTES: Compaq Computer "is talking another foray into
the athletic business by becoming the title sponsor for the
annual Houston Marathon." The marathon had been sponsored
the previous four years by Methodist Health Care System
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/27)....In St. Petersburg, Brant James
examines the NTRA's Magical Mystery Voucher program, which
is a "first-time promotion" by the NTRA using mailing lists
from 24 tracks to send out vouchers valued at $2, $5 and one
at $1M. The program, which is being used to establish a
direct-mail base, has sent out more than one million
vouchers, totaling nearly $3.7M (ST. PETE TIMES, 7/27).
