An adidas ad congratulating the Univ. of TN (UT)
football team on its Fiesta Bowl victory, which began
running less than 24 hours after the game, was a "violation
of NCAA rules [which] prohibit student athletes from
appearing in ads that feature the ad-makers' merchandise,"
according to SI's "Scorecard." The spot "clearly shows" the
adidas logo on the shoes, wristbands and jerseys of UT
players. NCAA Dir of PR Wally Renfro: "There's nothing
wrong with Adidas or any other company producing a
congratulatory ad that includes the company's logo, so long
as its product isn't identifiable. To continue using the
spot, Adidas will have to remove those clips or sanitize the
ad so that the logos on the products don't appear." UT had
"instructed Adidas to fix the ad immediately or take it off
the air." The NCAA "had no plans to punish" UT, because the
school "took measures to correct Adidas' error" and its
players did not give the company permission to use their
likenesses. An NCAA spokesperson, on possible penalties for
adidas: "We can't really do anything" (SI, 1/18 issue).
