UGG Australia yesterday announced the launch of a new UGG for Men integrated marketing campaign for the holiday season featuring Patriots QB Tom Brady. The campaign, titled "Pink Slip," debuted yesterday and includes TV, print and digital components. Aspects of the effort were inspired by Brady's tradition of giving teammates UGG for Men "Ascot" slippers. The campaign was produced by M&C Saatchi, L.A., and directed by the Guard Brothers (UGG Australia). In Boston, Donna Goodison notes the new commercial “shows a rookie teammate, said to be at a crossroads in training camp, walking up to his locker and finding a pair of the UGG slippers from Brady, who enters the locker room and congratulates him on making the team.” UGG said that Brady’s “performance and lines in the commercial were unscripted” (BOSTONHERALD.com, 11/19). In Boston, David D’Onofrio wrote Brady's acting is “getting better” compared with “some of his early work." But "then again, this one should've been pretty easy, given that it cast the quarterback in a familiar scenario." The ad reflects an act that Brady "has taken up in real life." First it was "just the offensive linemen who protected him, then about a year ago" he gave boots to "half the locker room." UGG is “hoping this year he can get men beyond the walls of Gillette Stadium wearing their boots” (BOSTON.com, 11/19). TAKING A SHOT: In Boston, Fee & Raposa reported Patriots WR Wes Welker’s new ad campaign for SK Energy Shots “debuts on the radio and on outdoor ads … just days after the FDA warned consumers about illness and deaths possibly linked to three top-selling energy drinks.” But Welker and SK Founder Chris Clarke insisted that the drink -- which was “not singled out by the FDA -- contains no harmful ingredients” (BOSTON HERALD, 11/19).
THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS:In DC, Sarah Kogod noted Reebok last Thursday unveiled Wizards G John Wall’s latest commercial. Wall in the spot says, “What does it take to make it? It takes support. It takes staying grounded. It takes inspiration, hard work, drive. What does it take to make it? I’ll let you know when I get there” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/16). In Akron, Jason Lloyd wrote as Cavaliers G Kyrie Irving “inches tantalizingly closer to that elite class of players in the NBA, he is also creeping toward another elite, equally lucrative status within the league: A star endorser.” The reigning Rookie of the Year “now has endorsements with Nike, Pepsi Max, Foot Locker, Skullcandy and EA Sports.” He has a “memorabilia and trading card deal with Panini, local sponsorships with a window company and a car dealer in Northeast Ohio and a few more agreements nearing completion.” Irving’s popularity has “exploded in recent months” (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 11/18).
