Fukudome Fever: Merchandise Sales Strong For Cubs Newcomer
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new product line featuring Cubs RF Kosuke Fukudome that includes jerseys, T-shirts and headbands is "taking Cubs Nation by storm" and you "can't walk a foot without seeing the evidence," according to Carol Slezak of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Not since Cubs P Kerry Wood's rookie season has a player "caught on so quickly with Cubs fans." A vendor, who sells a T-shirt that reads "Fukudome is my homie," said, "It's Fukudome fever. Nothing is bigger than Fukudome right now." Fukudome said, "It's nice to see more and more people wearing the T-shirts and the headbands. But I do realize that many people are wearing the headbands upside down." Signs that fans are holding up, including one that says "It's going to happen" in both English and Japanese, also amuse Fukudome, as the Japanese translates to "By coincidence." Fukudome: "Basically, all of the signs have mistakes in the translations, so they don't make much sense." Slezak noted in Japan, Fukudome "isn't a star of the magnitude" of Mariners RF Ichiro Suzuki, Red Sox P Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yankees LF Hideki Matsui or Royals minor league P Hideo Nomo, as "'Fukudomania' is still in its infancy." However, the four-year, $48M contract Fukudome signed with the Cubs "raised his profile in his home country." Earlier this month, Nippon Life Insurance Co. announced a marketing sponsorship with the Cubs that "included a Nippon backdrop display for Fukudome's media-room interviews" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/20).
STREET BUST: In Chicago, Gordon Wittenmyer reported within hours of a Sun-Times report Friday on the sale outside Wrigley Field of a Fukudome shirt "bearing a racist image," the Cubs "put a stop ... to the production and sale of the shirt." Cubs officials investigated and discovered that the unlicensed product "used a trademarked Cubs logo and confronted the vendor." The vendor then "complied with the team's demand to pull the shirt and cease production." Cubs Dir of Media Relations Peter Chase: "Clearly, the shirt was in poor taste and the Cubs are pleased to know that it will no longer be produced or sold." The shirt used the traditional Cubs cartoon bear face but with slanted eyes and wearing oversized Harry Caray-style glasses and was accompanied by the words, "Horry Kow!" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 4/19).
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