U.S. swimmer and three-time Gold medalist Lenny
Krayzelburg said on NBC's "Today" show that the attention he
has received following his performance at the Games is "way
beyond what I thought. It's been so crazy." NBC's Matt
Lauer noted Krayzelburg has endorsement deals with PowerBar,
IBM and Speedo, and Krayzelburg said "there's been a lot" of
new offers made. Krayzelburg: "Obviously I'm going to have
to choose what's going to work best for me. But I'm going
to be on a box of Kellogg's." Lauer then replied,
"Wheaties?" But Krayzelburg repeated, "No Kellogg's."
Estimates had U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson earning as much
as $20M in endorsements following his Gold medal wins in
Atlanta, and Krayzelburg said, "Those numbers sound good to
me. I just know that our sport is not as big as Track and
Field is. But I hope with my success, and the success of
U.S. swimming this past week, it's really going to become
more popular" ("Today," NBC, 9/29).
THE CLEAN GAMES: In N.Y., Mark Landler writes that the
"consensus" in Australia and abroad is that Sydney "has gone
farther than any previous host city to protect its official
sponsors from being ambushed by rivals." But SOCOG
spokesperson Bob Bowden said Olympic Park security guards
have been "given no instructions" for non-sponsor Pepsi to
be "confiscated" when people enter the Olympic Park. Gary
Pluchino, VP of Carlson Marketing Group, which works for TOP
sponsors IBM, Samsung and Kodak, said SOCOG has "done a
really great job" keeping ambushers out. But, Fila, not an
official Games sponsor, has leased a replica of the
"legendary schooner," Bounty, docked it near the Opera House
in Sydney Harbor, and uses it "to wine and dine clients" and
"torment" AOC sponsor Nike. Fila VP/Communications
Alessandro de Pestel said that the company spent $2M on its
Sydney marketing campaign, compared with the $10M Nike paid.
de Pestel, on Nike's Atlanta Games ambush of Reebok:
"Everybody has learned from Nike" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/29).
SPOTS OFF THE MARK? The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Kranhold
& Vranica present "some of the best and worst" Olympic ad
campaigns this year and write, "Several big advertisers
shamelessly pushed all the big sentimental Olympic buttons -
- but forgot to sell some product. Other companies decided
to make the Olympics the context for commercials about a
serial killer and the pains of divorce. The result is a
year in which some advertisers scored despite a decidedly
thin pool of Olympic advertising" (WALL ST JOURNAL, 9/29).
... AND THAT'S A MIGHTY LONG TIME: Ben Harper, the
Australian fan who caught the Nike shoes men's 100m Gold
medalist Maurice Greene threw into the stands following his
win Saturday, said he would keep the shoe "forever," but SEL
marketer Basil Scaffidi said that he signed an agreement
with Harper to sell it (Mult., 9/29).
