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Olympics

Milk campaign back in the pool with new USA Swimming deal

Milk loves the water.

The dairy marketing syndicate that created “Got Milk?” has agreed to a sponsorship deal with USA Swimming that will include five American swimmers in an advertising campaign next year, sources said.

The deal renews a relationship that started in 2012, when the Milk Processor Education Program built a chocolate milk campaign through deals with USA Swimming, the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon and Ironman triathlon series. That two-year contract covered the London Olympics but wasn’t renewed.

USA Swimming CMO Matt Farrell and a spokesman for the Milk Processor Education Program both declined to comment.

This year’s campaign will expand on the 2012 campaign and include both white milk and chocolate milk, one source said. The message will again encourage athletes to use milk as a source of calcium and protein and will hit TV, print and digital platforms.

Athletes will be paid $10,000 and be required to participate in a video shoot and a media tour, advocate for milk on social media and make one post-Olympics appearance, according to a solicitation described by sources.

The compensation is on the low end of endorsement deals for well-known athletes in major Olympic sports, but the cultural resonance of the milk program will ensure strong interest, said Greg Goldring, director of marketing at Platinum Rye Entertainment. “Got Milk” dates to 1993, even though the tag line made way for “Milk Life” in most markets in 2014.

“It’s a heartstring deal,” Goldring said. “When you grow up seeing a deal like that done by your heroes, talent want it regardless of the money.”

No athletes are signed yet, and the marketing deal still must be finalized. However, the parties are actively working together to identify the best swimmers for the campaign, sources said, and will choose them in the next two weeks.

The milk marketing group could be among the first organizations without official Olympic rights to feature Olympians in their advertising during the Games. Under a new, closely watched waiver system, the U.S. Olympic Committee is considering requests from nonsponsors to use Olympians during the Games, as long as their campaigns are in market by March 27 and don’t mention the Olympics specifically. Until this year, athletes could face disqualification for appearing in nonsponsor ads immediately before and during the Games.

Financial details of the USA Swimming-milk deal are not known, but the milk organization was a supplier to USA Swimming in 2012, a level worth in the mid-six figures at the time.

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