The AP's Larry Lage reports Univ. of Michigan football players will be allowed to keep the adidas "legacy jerseys" they wore Saturday night against Notre Dame. Michigan AD Dave Brandon said, "They love the jerseys. I walked out of the locker room, checked with compliance and got the go ahead. The reason they're getting the jerseys is they really want them and NCAA rules allow us to do it because it was a special event and the cost was under a threshold" (AP, 9/12).
THIRTY MINUTES OR LESS: In Columbus, Jeff Bell reported Papa John's will replace Donatos as the Blue Jackets "official pizza partner, putting its name on three stands in the arena and providing its pizza in dining areas at the suite and club levels." Columbus-based Donatos has been the club's "pizza partner since the Jackets debuted in 2000." The Blue Jackets "would not disclose why the change was made or, as is club policy, the financial terms and length of the multiyear agreement with Papa John's." Donatos VP/Marketing Tom Santor said the company decided to "diversify our sponsorships in the community moving forward" (COLUMBUS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/9 issue).
CELEBRATION IN JAMAICA: MARKETING magazine's Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith reported the Jamaican Tourist Board "is in the planning stages of a UK marketing campaign to celebrate 50 years of independence and scheduled to run during the London 2012 Olympics." The campaign, created by Draft FCB, will "feature TV and digital work that will target the 600,000 Jamaican residents in the UK and encourage them to 'return home' for the celebrations." The TV work "will consist of three ads that were shown in North America last year" and it will be "supported by extensive online activity" (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 9/12).
GOING GREEN: In N.Y., Ken Belson examined NASCAR's green efforts and notes it "not only saves money that can be spent on drivers and cars, but it has also created new revenue by attracting sponsors to NASCAR that want to trumpet their eco-friendliness to the millions of fans who watch races on television and at the track." NASCAR claims to "have the largest recycling program in sports because of Coca-Cola and Coors Light," which are "expected to recycle about 12 million bottles and cans this season, twice as much as last year" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/13).
