Names & Faces

Gatorade Splashes Wade’s Image On 20 Million Bottles In China

In Miami, Joseph Tartakoff reports Gatorade started putting Heat and U.S. G Dwyane Wade’s picture on 20 million bottles in China on July 1 to promote the U.S. national team’s game against the Chinese national team next week. Under each label is a “code that drinkers can text-message in for a chance to win tickets” to the U.S.-China game. Wade will also appear in TV spots for the company as part of a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal. Also, Team USA sponsor Coca-Cola is featuring Cavaliers and U.S. F LeBron James in its Chinese campaign (MIAMI HERALD, 8/4).

APOLITICAL BLUES: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger appeared on CNBC’s “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” Thursday night and discussed his decision not to film a PSA about the dangers of riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Roethlisberger: “I don’t mind being a role model and telling people that I live my life this way, but I’m not a parent and I think that’s hard for people to understand.” More Roethlisberger: “I play football. I’m not in politics. ... I’m not going to sit here and come out with commercials and platforms and say I feel that we should have laws in every state to wear helmets” (CNBC, 8/3).

FEEL THE BURNS: SI’s Kelli Anderson reports Twins C Joe Mauer accounts for “nearly a quarter of the Twins’ named or numbered T-shirt sales.” He is “so adored that fake versions of his sideburns ... have started appearing in the stands” at the team’s games. The Twins have “encouraged the trend in a TV spot that tweaks the Mean Joe Greene Coke ad from the ’70s” (SI, 8/7 issue). The exposure Nike is receiving via its logo on Mauer’s chest protector on the cover of SI this week “could be worth as much as a $50,000 bonus” for Mauer from Nike (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 8/4).

BRIGHT FUTURE: In N.Y., John Branch reports Giants S Will Demps had a “starring role in a recent music video” for R&B singer LeToya, and his former San Diego home was featured on MTV’s “Cribs.” He has also “done some professional modeling,” and has “turned away chances to act on soap operas.” Demps, like Steelers WR Hines Ward, is the son of a Korean mother and an African-American father who served in Korea with the U.S. military. Ward has “become a celebrity” in South Korea, and Demps “speaks the language and lived there.” Demps: “There are a lot of Koreans here in [N.Y.], so you never know. There’s a lot of things that could open up” (N.Y. TIMES, 8/4).