Edmonton-based Booster Juice this week "kicked off a $1.5 million ad campaign" featuring Blue Jays 3B Jose Bautista "that will eventually include TV commercials," according to Morgan Campbell of the TORONTO STAR. As part of the launch, Booster Juice has erected billboards throughout Canada that "coyly confront the steroid accusations" surrounding Bautista, who has hit 90 home runs over the past two MLB seasons. The billboards feature Bautista holding a smoothie and a baseball bat next to the copy: "Bats Right. Throws Right. Lives Right!" Booster Juice President Dale Wishewan "realizes the blogosphere might erupt with drug jokes when Bautista is linked with the words 'boost' and 'juice.'" So Wishewan "decided to get the first laugh, while also affirming Bautista's assertion that his success comes drug-free." Wishewan said, "(Skepticism) is always going to be there. This (billboard) addresses the point. It shows the confidence of Jose." Wishewan did not disclose how much Bautista is being paid, but his four-year agreement with Booster Juice is the "first national endorsement deal for a Blue Jays player since the mid 1990s" (TORONTO STAR, 8/24).
THE SWEETEST THING: In Toronto, Josh Rubin reports Blue Jays fans "will be able to buy Tim Hortons coffee and Cold Stone creamery ice cream from two kiosks at the Rogers Centre under a new sponsorship deal between the club and the iconic Canadian coffee chain." Blue Jays Senior VP/Business Operations Stephen Brooks said that the deal "is only for the remainder of the season, but the Blue Jays are in talks for a multi-year contract with the chain." Brooks "wouldn't reveal how much the Jays are making from the deal, which includes in-stadium signage, but no TV or radio advertising" (TORONTO STAR, 8/24).
