Saints "Finish Strong" Shirts Breaking Local Retail Sales Records

"Finish Strong" T-Shirt Sales Have Already Raised $250,000 For Charity

The Saints "Finish Strong" T-shirts -- a "charity project conceived on the fly by Saints players -- have broken nearly every unofficial T-shirt sales record local retailers can remember," according to Susan Langenhennig of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. In "less than a week, about 40,000 of the shirts had sold." The T-shirts sell for between $15-20 and "hit most store shelves on Jan. 13." Since then, "sales have soared, ringing up close to $250,000 for local charities and initiatives." Saints QB Drew Brees in an e-mail said that the shirts are "printed locally by companies that have agreed to reduce their costs in order to maximize the project's charitable proceeds" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 1/23). Metairie, Louisiana-based retailer Sports Avenue Manager EZ Olmo said that sales of Saints merchandise this season "began thriving early on and remained high until the team's undefeated season came to an end." Sales have "bumped up again as the Saints have progressed further in the playoffs" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 1/24).

HORSE POWER: Workers at an adidas facility in Indianapolis "worked all night to crank out shirts and other gear commemorating the Colts' AFC Championship Game win." adidas Sports Licensed Division VP/Operations Joe Cripe said the company plans to produce "about 200,000 t-shirts within 48 hours of the game." Cripe added that adidas "would have made more money had the Jets won, because the company had more preorders for their gear (THEINDYCHANNEL.com, 1/25).

COOKIE CRUNCH: Oreo ads featuring company endorser and Colts QB Peyton Manning were posted on YouTube's Web site yesterday after the Colts' AFC Championship victory over the Jets, and CNBC's Darren Rovell tweeted, "Props to the guys @ Oreo for taking over YouTube front with Manning DSRL ad as Peyton wins today" (TWITTER.com, 1/24).