ESPN.com's Lynn Hoppes noted golfer Rickie Fowler has "spent the past two days in New York City filming two commercials for Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts," which will begin airing in April. Fowler said, "We're causing a bit of good distraction because we're filming in the natural setting of the hotel while people are walking around" (ESPN.com, 3/13).
KNOCKED ONE OUT OF THE PARK: ADWEEK's Tim Nudd noted Dick's Sporting Goods has made a "baseball ad for the ages." Ad agency Anomaly Creative Dir Seth Jacobs said, "You see Rory and Tiger out there hitting golf balls into cups from a hundred miles away. And that's cute and entertaining. But it's not what we're interested in." Nudd wrote Dick's is "about real athletes in real sports moments." Everything about the ad, "from the talent to the way it's shot, is meant to feel real and remind the viewer how intense baseball can be." @radical.media Dir Derek Cianfrance "shot for two nights at Blair Field, a college park in Long Beach, Calif." The spot is "running on cable channels including ESPN, MLB Network and NBC Sports Network, as well as online" (ADWEEK.com, 3/12).
STRIKING UP A PARTNERSHIP: Pocono Raceway and Strike Ten Entertainment announced a two-year sponsorship deal in which the '13 and '14 August NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races will be renamed the GoBowling.com 400. An integrated sponsorship campaign will include traditional marketing, digital and social media as well as event activations. The program will include the GoBowling.com "Stop Your Thirst & Start The Race" sweepstakes (Pocono Raceway).
SMART SHOES: Google is developing "internet-connected sneakers that can track a user's every movement and, thanks to in-built speakers, shout encouraging messages in their general direction, or equally critical messages." The "heavily customized" adidas shoes were "unveiled at the SXSW conference" this week in Austin. The shoes are "meant to be a wake-up call for advertisers." They can monitor "physical activity and push that information to a social network, but they could just as easily deliver audio commercials to all of the other runners on a track or members of a gym" (AFP, 3/13).
