I Am Not A Role Model

    The year was 1905 and a baseball player from the Pittsburgh Pirates, named Honus Wagner became the first athlete to endorse a product for money.  He had a contract with the Louisville Slugger that would allow the baseball bat company to sell bats with his signature engraved on the barrel.  That deal started a love affair between celebrity athletes and their consumers/fans that would grow to unimaginable heights.  Today, Athletes like Tiger Woods and David Beckham have net worths of 500 million and 260 million dollars respectively.  Most of that money is from endorsements and both of these men are known worldwide.  Companies capitalize on the success and name branding of these men and sell everything from cars to watches to shoes because fans will pay through the nose for a pair of cleats that David Beckham uses.  Their faces (or bodies) are on billboards, commercials, buses, magazines, TV, and video games.
 
    This exposure is what the corporations want, to flood the market with a hot commodity, i.e. a successful athlete, and as long as they stay winning they will ride the wave of popularity.  What happens when the athlete makes a public mistake?  That depends on how that mistake it is perceived and dealt with.  Tiger Woods had a very public "mistake" and his cost him and the companies he endorsed millions of dollars.  No longer would people want to buy a Buick because Tiger has one but would rather buy something else so no one associates them with the adulterer.  His PR team dealt with that scandal terribly and unfortunately, he never recovered fully.  On the other hand, David Beckham has been reported to have had affairs with numerous women and most recently, this past August.  The thing is, most of us didn't hear of this.  Why?  His PR team is quick to react and squash rumors and issue statements on behalf of their client.  After a reported cheating rumor, you see pictures of him and his wife, Victoria (Posh Spice), all over town appearing to be madly in love.  We don't know what really happened, but people wouldn't stop buying Adidas soccer cleats because of a rumor.

     Athletes are people with everyday problems like the rest of us, except they have lots of money and the fact that every move they make of the court or field is documented by everyone.  I like the ad from the 90's with Charles Barkley (the most honest man in sports in my opinion) where the entire campaign was about athletes not being role models.  Parents should be role models.  I will never forget those commercials because they are so true.