Olympic officials have added Pepsi to its list of
"dangerous" items banned from the Olympic Park in Sydney,
according to Vivek Chaudhary of the LONDON GUARDIAN. SOCOG
security ask fans attending events if they are carrying
"knives, weapons or cans of Pepsi" in a bid to please TOP
sponsor Coca-Cola. Fans refusing to part with their Pepsi
are "denied entry." A SOCOG spokesperson: "Non-game sponsor
products are not allowed" (GUARDIAN, 9/19).
CRUISE CONTROL: Both USA TODAY and the WASHINGTON POST
examine sponsor hospitality around the Games. TOP sponsor
SI is spending an estimated $20M on its corporate functions,
as SI's "guest athletes mingle with corporate types and the
movable feast of beautiful flesh" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/19).
SI is giving each of its 1,800 guests a "goodie bag worth
nearly $1,000 and stuffed with things like sailing jackets,
pullover sweatshirts, polo shirts and Swatch watches." TOP
sponsor IBM has the "biggest" charter ship in Sydney's
harbor, a "little more" than 790 feet (USA TODAY, 9/19).
DAMN THIS THORPEDO! Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe won
his third Gold medal today as the lead for Australia's men's
800-meter freestyle relay (THE DAILY). On NBC's "Today"
show, Katie Couric profiled Thorpe: "Just how big is he in
his home country? Well, think Michael Jordan or Tiger
Woods. He's Australia's most admired athlete." Thorpe is
"one of Australia's highest paid athletes, largely due to
endorsement deal like the one with adidas." Couric did note
that Thorpe had won a third Gold in today's competition
(NBC, 9/19). In Orlando, David Whitley writes that because
Thorpe is an adidas endorser, he "draped an Australian flag
over his Nike warm-up" suit during medal ceremonies (ORLANDO
SENTINEL, 9/19). In Chicago, Rick Morrissey writes Thorpe is
"too good a role model. ... Even sportswriters, accustomed
to dealing with snarling, jockstrapped capitalists, come
away from encounters with Thorpe looking as if they have
been touched by an angel" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/19).
MARKETING NOTES: The AUSTRALIAN's McKenzie & McGuire
write that Coca-Cola "has booked a multitude of ads" on
Australian carrier Seven around events Australians "are
expected to do well in." The ads will be "tailored to carry
the name and the event of the successful athlete over
previously shot footage of celebrating crowds." Coca-Cola's
ad package with the network "allows the flexibility to put
on more ads" if Ian Thorpe "wins gold, or less if he
misses." Coca-Cola External Affairs Manager David Cox, on
the ads: "We went overboard with Ian Thorpe and the
swimming, but we always knew we would" (AUSTRALIAN, 9/19).
....The AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW's Lisa Allen wrote that
the Olympic "public was in a buying mood over the first
weekend of the Games." SOCOG Marketing Manager of Consumer
Products Madelaine Cohen, on sales of licensed products in
Sydney: "It's huge, it's gone off incredibly fast." By
tomorrow, SOCOG "expects to meet" its A$10M sales budget at
the Olympic Super Store, ten days "ahead of schedule." For
Nike, the "big sellers" are clothing items branded "village
replica" (AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, 9/18)....Pindemonium
Magazine Editor Josh Jackson appeared on this morning's
"Today" show to highlight the most popular pins being traded
at this year's Games. Among them were NBC's Guest pin, USA
Today's gold pin, and AT&T's flip-phone pin (NBC, 9/19).
