Marketplace Roundup
 |
Jose Reyes Signs Multi-Year
Deal With Under Armour |
Under Armour (UA) has signed Mets SS Jose Reyes to a multi-year endorsement deal. As part of UA's “Athletes Run, Train, Battle” ad campaign, Reyes is featured in a new TV spot that introduces the Heater baseball cleat. The spot will begin airing today on NBC, ABC, CBS and SportsNet N.Y., which airs Mets games (UA). Reyes joins a group of MLB players endorsing UA that includes Cubs LF Alfonso Soriano, Braves RF Jeff Francoeur and Twins P Francisco Liriano (Baltimore SUN, 2/18).
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: The Heat last week acquired C Jermaine O'Neal from the Raptors and in Ft. Lauderdale, Sarah Talalay reported O'Neal's No. 7 Heat jersey is "already for sale at miamihoopsgear.com or by going to heat.com." Heat Senior Dir of Retail Operations Andy Montero said that "there will be O'Neal jerseys for sale at AmericanAirlines Arena" during tonight's game against the T'Wolves. Meanwhile, Talalay noted the Heat "has ordered 60 commemorative versions of the orange and purple 'money balls' from this past weekend's NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix to sell in honor" of Heat G Daequan Cook winning the three-point shootout. The team "will also sell 8 x 10 photos of Cook shooting the 'money ball'" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 2/17).
IS IT IN YOU? SLATE.com's John Swansburg wrote while rapper Lil Wayne "might have been a brave, inspired choice" to narrate Gatorade's new "G" campaign, the company "wanted him only for his voice, in the hope it would prick the ears of his young fans." Gatorade CMO Sarah Robb O'Hagan said that Lil Wayne "had no input on the wording of the ads." Swansburg: "It shows. The script reads like the minutes of a late-afternoon brainstorming session at Gatorade HQ." Meanwhile, Gatorade hired Spike Lee to direct the ad, and Swansburg wrote Lee "fails to unify what in the end feels like a hodgepodge." It is as if Gatorade execs "had thrown everything they'd read was cool these days into a pot and stirred." Swansburg gave the ad campaign a C- (SLATE.com, 2/16).
HISTORY REPEATING: In Boston, Darren Garnick reports Topps has released a new "American Heritage" series of trading cards. The sets include cards devoted to "legendary writers, artists, explorers, military leaders and civil rights activists." The company "probably won’t make a fortune off these 'American Heritage' cards and likely regards [baseball cards] to be far more profitable" (BOSTON HERALD, 2/18).
|
