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Sports Biz
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From guest blogger Brian Gainor:
As you watch star athletes endorse products on television, do you really find their claims to be authentic? Darren Rovell recently proclaimed CNBC Sports Biz as the home of endorsement fraud and Dwight Howard has given us another case to add to the files.
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Dwight Howard |
However, during the Beijing Olympics, Howard and a number of his Redeem Team counterparts (including LeBron James, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, and Deron Williams) were featured in a YouTube clip devouring Wendy's during a "team meal," which raises the question, Dwight, which QSR restaurant do you really prefer, Wendy's or McDonald's?
What makes the situation even more interesting is the fact that the Redeem Team was having a "team meal" at Wendy's despite McDonald's being the Official Sponsor of Team USA Basketball for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. McDonald's reportedly paid approximately $4 million for its sponsorship rights (Sports Business Journal).
While the intention of this column is not to distinguish Dwight Howard as a "fraud endorser", its intended focus is to demonstrate that athletes are subject to their own actions in both the present and the past. With the advent of new technologies, athletes will need to grow accustomed to the general public analyzing each of their actions that potentially contradict endorsement deals.
The driving question in the future will surround authenticity. Will consumers continue to believe athletes who endorse commercials? Or will they make their decisions based on YouTube videos that show athletes in their everyday lives?
Brian Gainor is the founding editor of PartnershipActivation.com, a site that identifies best practices in the sports marketplace. Brian can be reached at .
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