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I think you're probably right about Mr Marbury and the company's intentions, Olulabelle. But despite this I can't help remain very cynical (I told you I'm a misery guts).
Over the years, celebrities have endorsed many things before, cheep and expensive things, free things, charitable courses and private interests alike, etc.
For example; let's take a subjective look at another sports company's birth:
In 1964 Nike was half born of finance (Phil Knight), and half born out of a private, yet philanthropic interest and obsession to make good footwear and help deliver American athletes (and probably one legend in particular, Steve Roland Prefontaine, or "Pre") to renowned athletic glory and high status (Bill Bowerman). Nike, therefore, would use coaching and new technology to help give athletes and maybe a nation a boost in pride, deliver fresh hope to people worldwide that they too can belong to the Nike dream, and make lots of money for Nike's backers in the process.
It is probably ironic, therefore, that Bowerman's main poster boy, "Pre", wore Adidas (in the trials, at least), and then came fourth at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.
According to a bio-drama film I once saw about Pre's life (at any rate), at the time Pre wasn't feeling right, mainly to due to the Middle East related hostage crisis happening only a few hundred yards away from his drab and bare US paid hotel room. This deeply affected him and like many other athletes that summer, despite trying hard as always, his heart was no longer in that final, allegedly.
Also, there was not much sponsorship or national investment in US "amateur" sport those days, and Pre was appalled at the conditions in Munich and how athletes were treated as pawns by their leaders and others. After the 1972 Olympics he thus went on to became a big voice in the Amateur Athletic Union, before he sadly died in a suspicious car crash in 1975. (No, I'm not going all "conspiracy theory" either...)
According to Pre's 'University of Oregon (1970-1973)' wiki entry:
" It was during his collegiate career that he [Pre] began to fight the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) which demanded that athletes who wished to remain "amateur" for the Olympics not be paid for appearances in track meets, even though they drew large crowds that generated millions of dollars. Bowerman, who also fought the AAU's restrictions, began calling Prefontaine "Rube" because of his naivety and stubbornness."
Pre was also due to become one of the two main Torch Lighters for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, and his name is still recorded as such despite his untimely death.
Indeed, in many ways Steve Prefontaine's legacy is a great one. He is legendary.
e.g. Apparently according to the biopic I saw, he used to tear off the Nike logos that suddenly appeared on the sides of his new training shoes when Bowerman first went into partnership with Knight, because they slowed him down. i.e. "Unnecessary extra drag" (Bowerman, who was arguably and ironically drag and weight obsessed, had hand-made Pre's trainers ever since Bowerman started coaching him for the University of Oregon.)
Meanwhile, Nike, Bowerman, and Knight, made and/or continue to make millions...
This is one of the Celebrity Endorsement stories that reminds me why one should always try to stay sharp and cynical regarding any topic when money is a major motivator, where it is being offered or exchanged (for good or bad). Teh liveD likes to hide in the minor details; but ze doesn't try that hard, and we can always re-write our own new, improved rules, if we try. Sadly, however, lately my slow wits have recently lead me to remember this rule too late, to my shame and personal cost. |
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