Unilever's Dove Men+Care brand is enlisting Int'l Tennis HOFer John McEnroe to "help promote its sponsorship" of the Nov. 3 ING N.Y. Marathon by "rolling out three tongue-in-cheek Web videos in which Mr. McEnroe offers what the brand calls 'anti-irritation tips' for runners," according to Andrew Adam Newman of the N.Y. TIMES. The videos are what marketers "call branded content, which aims to entertain consumers more than to promote products." Dove is sponsoring the N.Y. Marathon for the first time. A contest "promoting the sponsorship will award two coveted spots to run in the marathon -- an atypical strategy for brands." Gift bags with samples of Men+Care deodorant "will be distributed to marathon registrants." The videos, created by Davie Brown Entertainment, "will be introduced on Aug. 8." McEnroe said that although he "had never run a marathon, casting him in the videos was logical." McEnroe: "With me being the irritable type, the product we’re working with made sense. If they can calm me down, they can calm anyone down" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/2).
