In N.Y., Bernie Augustine writes a designer for Nike “made an ill-timed quip on Twitter Saturday, speculating" that Bulls G Derrick Rose’s torn ACL "might have had something to do" with his shoe choice. Nike basketball shoe designer Jason Petrie tweeted Saturday night, “You got one guy only getting stronger and one guy breaking down before our very eyes. You chose poorly Pooh #shouldasignedwithNIKE #GWS.” Augustine notes Petrie “is the designer" of Heat F LeBron James’ signature Nike shoe. Petrie took to Twitter “again Sunday morning to apologize for his remarks,” and said, “Wow! Twitterverse I do apologize. It was really just tongue n cheek! Never meant any harm or disrespect.” Nike in a statement released Sunday called Petrie’s comments “inappropriate” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/30).
EXPENSIVE COMPETITION: Reebok President Uli Becker acknowledged that Nike "made continuing his company's deal with the NFL too expensive.” Becker “pointed to other professional and college sports still connected with Reebok or associated Adidas names.” However, he said that his company “recognized several years ago that a big part of its future would be in the personal fitness niche, where it began in the early 1980s, as more and more adults worldwide seek to improve their health.” Becker: “We want to create a reason why Reebok will be there and it has a lot to do with the fitness lifestyle.” He acknowledged that company finances and operations “were rough following Adidas’ 2005 acquisition of Reebok.” Becker: “Obviously in a recession the weakest are affected the most. But we’ve been growing ever since. We’ve replaced a lot of our business with really growing business, and the last two years we’ve had really good growth” (BOSTON HERALD, 4/29).
FUTURISTIC FOOTBALL: AD WEEK’s Tim Nudd wrote the Nike Football commercial that broke Thursday night during the NFL Draft was “rugged, stylized, eye-catching.” The spot from Portland-based Wieden & Kennedy was directed by Mark Romanek and “visually, it’s expert stuff -- clean and futuristic, set in a space-agey stadium tunnel.” But despite “the fancy visuals, it’s the percussive copy that pushes the spot forward.” The voiceover in the commercial says, “This game is not fast. This game is faster” (ADWEEK.com, 4/27).
IN THE WORKS: Spanish-language sports site Marca.com is reporting La Liga club Real Madrid is “on the verge of signing a new sponsorship deal with Adidas until 2020.” The figure involved in the deal “has not yet been announced by either side, but the new deal will certainly represent an improvement" on the US$46.3M received by the club for the '11-12 season (GOAL.com, 4/28).
CLARIFICATION: In Wednesday’s issue, THE DAILY mischaracterized details of Procter & Gamble’s recent deal for its Tide brand and the NFL. P&G handled all aspects of that deal with the NFL internally. THE DAILY regrets the error (THE DAILY).
