London-based airline company EasyJet "has taken advantage" of England's loss to Italy in Sunday's Euro 2012 match, which was watched by a peak audience of 23.5 million, "with a tongue-in-cheek press ad for its cheap fares to Europe," according to Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith of MARKETING MAGAZINE. The ad portrays a man with an England team scarf around his shoulders sitting down with his head buried in his hands. The ad reads: "Tears dry faster in the sun. Make England’s exit easier to deal with. Where are you going? Majorca, Malaga, Alicante from £50.99 ($79) one way" (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 6/25).
NEW OPPORTUNITY: ASIASPONSORSHIPNEWS.com reported Malaysia's largest banking and financial services company Malayan Banking Berhad (better known as Maybank) has increased its sponsorship of golf through a deal as the title sponsor of the new Asian Development Tour tournament in Indonesia. The event will be called the Bii Maybank Asian Development Tour, and it will reward a total prize pool of $50,000 (ASIASPONSORSHIPNEWS.com, 6/25).
ONLY ROOM FOR TWO: CYCLYINGNEWS.com reported cycling team Garmin-Barracuda has partnered with int'l technology provider Sharp. Teams are only allowed to have two sponsors, so the team will officially be known as Garmin-Sharp, beginning with the Tour de France. Barracuda will still stay associated with the team (CYCLINGNEWS.com, 6/25).
NBA 2K ONLINE IN CHINA: Video-game maker 2K Sports has launched its free NBA 2K Online game on the Tencent Games portal in China. Selected players can log on to the website to test the game-play experience of NBA 2K Online. Players' data will be saved to ensure their progressions are maintained and current when the game goes live (2K Sports).
