Tecate Rolls Out Largest-Ever Boxing Promo For Pacquiao-Cotto

Tecate Campaigning In U.S. And Mexico

Mexican brewer Tecate has launched its "largest campaign to date, involving both Mexico and the U.S." in support of Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto bout in Las Vegas, according to Karl Greenberg of MARKETING DAILY. The ad campaign, a joint effort with Top Rank, includes "ads, promotions, point-of-purchase and grassroots events." The program, via Mexico-based Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma, includes TV, radio, out-of-home, retail and promotions, while "in-store elements include mass displays and commemorative 24-oz. cans featuring the pugilists." As it has done for previous boxing matches, Tecate will "offer a $25 mail-in discount for the HBO PPV event with the purchase of an 18-pack of Tecate or Tecate Light" in several western states. Tecate Sponsorship & Media Dir Daniel Cuellar said that the brewer is "supporting the sponsorship by tailoring existing campaigns to include information about the fight." Tecate this weekend will offer fans "seat upgrades and the chance to get a seat next to celebrities" at the bout. Cuellar said, "We decided some years ago to build our association with boxing both in Mexico and the U.S. It has been working well for the brand but the relevance of the fight is huge in both countries, so we decided to activate it on a national, regional and local basis in the U.S." He pointed out that Tecate also will "sponsor the fight broadcast" in Mexico. Cuellar: "I could say it is the biggest campaign we have done around boxing" (MARKETING DAILY, 11/10 issue).

RISING TO ANOTHER LEVEL: YAHOO SPORTS' Martin Rogers noted Pacquiao's popularity "has gone stratospheric" since defeating Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in his past two fights. Pacquiao in his homeland of the Philippines has "morphed from a source of pride to a symbol of hope, and taken on a status that borders on mythological." He has become a "cultural phenomenon," but while "many love to portray the evolving Pacquiao story as an uplifting tour de force of humanitarianism and joy in the face of adversity, reality is somewhat different." The "inevitability that his name, status and popularity would be hacked into by parasitic outsiders is already well under way" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/10).