M&T Bank today is "launching a new advertising campaign" with the Ravens, and while RB Ray Rice has been a spokesperson for the bank for the past four years, its TV ads "won't feature any of the team's players," according to Joanna Sullivan of the BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL. M&T Bank VP/Advertising Promotions & Sponsorships Betsey Locke "would not comment on Rice's former deal and why he won't be reappearing in the bank's ads." But she said that Rice's troubles "haven't resulted in any backlash from customers." Sullivan wrote Rice's "affable nature and once squeaky-clean reputation made him the perfect pitchman for the bank's high-profile Ravens partnership." But Locke said that the new campaign "made sense because it's focused on teamwork." Sullivan noted the ads "will star Ravens Coach John Harbaugh, President Dick Cass and M&T's Greater Baltimore President Augie Chiasera." Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The campaign is "being handled" by Buffalo-based ad agency Crowley Webb, which has "worked with M&T for 25 years" (
BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/16).
