Marketplace Roundup
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King Says She Likes Deals
That Are Socially Responsible |
The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Stephanie Kang profiles Tennis HOFer Billie Jean King as part of the paper's "Long Toss" feature, and noted King's endorsement deals "started pouring in decades after her heyday on the court" in the '60s and '70s. King has appeared in TV spots for Geico, NutriSystem and Merrill Lynch, among others, and Kang noted her current deals are "part of a recent wave of growing demand for retired athletes ... who have stayed marketable or gotten even hotter long after the glow of their athletic achievements have subsided." King said on choosing a deal, "I like companies that are socially responsible, so I have to pay attention to the cause. Health is very important to me. It's also important to be financially responsible. So I think about those things" (WSJ.com, 10/29).
KEEP IT CLEAN: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Lauren Schuker reports Fox has refused to run ads promoting the upcoming Weinstein Co. release "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" that include the word "porno" during NFL coverage, "for which it would collect about $350,000 per airing." One ad "eventually ran without 'porno' in the commercial" on Fox. That comes after FSN Prime Ticket dropped ads for the film after several viewer complaints (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/30). Several ads for the movie ran on Fox during last night's coverage of World Series Game Five, but they did not include the word "porno" when mentioning the name of the movie (THE DAILY).
SWIM TEAM: Rosetta Stone CEO Tom Adams said his company's sponsorship deal with Gold Medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps was "pretty much" Phelps' own idea. Adams: "Michael had traveled to China in ’07 ahead of the Olympics and had come up with the idea that actually learning Chinese would be something that would be very beneficial. So he reached out to us.” Phelps, who recently shot an ad for Activision's "Guitar Hero World Tour," said, “All of the commercials that I’ve done have all been funny. … I play ‘Guitar Hero.’ I learned Chinese using Rosetta Stone. These are things that are a part of me and make me feel comfortable” (“Money for Breakfast,” Fox Business, 10/30).
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: Data from Nielsen's Insights estimated that EA Sports in support of its "Madden NFL 09" videogame has spent $10M in advertising "over the past year-and-a-half." EA Sports spent around $5.5M on cable TV ads, and another $3M on network TV spots. The remainder of the budget was used for "ads across the Internet, national newspapers, Spanish language network TV, Spanish cable TV and spot TV" (EDGE-ONLINE.com, 10/29).
SOUTHERN LIVING: St. Louis-based QSR Hardee’s has signed sponsorship agreements with the Univ. of North Carolina, NC State Univ., the Univ. of Virginia and Virginia Tech that cover various sports and venues. Boddie-Noell Enterprises CMO Jerry Allsbrook, whose company is the largest Hardee’s franchisee in North Carolina and Virginia, said, “Hardee’s has a strong presence in both Virginia and North Carolina so it was a natural fit for us to commit and support these athletics program[s]” (Hardee’s).
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