14 Oct 2009
By A. Paul Mitchell
In years gone by, athletes could get away with a harder living lifestyle of boozing and womanizing. Professional hockey and football players still enjoy a priviledged lifestyle full of decadence like most men can never hope to emmulate, but having a sterile clean public persona has become vital to securing lucrative sponsorship deals. Furthermore, that sort of lifestyle -- while it does still exist to a certain degree -- is simply not tolerated by society any more. Discussions of self-destructive behaviour versus morality and decency aside (what would happen if Theoren Fleury and Michael Irvin had partied together?), alcohol and professional sports have underone a dramatic change in their relationship to each other. So how and why has there been such a role reversal with regard to alcohol marketing, and sports sponsorships?
Montreal Canadiens' toughman, Georges Laraque has recently received public condemnation for an online commerical he appeared in for an alcoholic energy drink, Octane 7.0, that combines 80 mg of caffeine with 7-percent alcohol. In the ad, scantily clad women stretch and warm up seductively for the vast majority of the spot. Suddenly, near the very end of the 1:06 spot, Laraque bursts onto the scene with cans of the alcoholic energy drink and they all begin to play road hockey. While some have decryed the promotion as sexist -- Laraque has since apologized for appearing in it -- the big point of controversy has been that the endorsement has been in direct violation of the NHLPA collective players' agreement.
Times have changed. Alcohol and sports have been a natural fit for decades, and still a large part in most professional leagues' revenue. Schenley once named the CFL's most valuable player awards, and Gibson's is now one of the league's major sponsors. Perhaps it is a Canadian thing, favouring rye whisky and all. Many drink companies in Europe (Carling being the most notable) have switched their marketing efforts away from sports and towards music festivals where audiences are larger and more diverse. Sports, after all, is a male dominated market, but then, so is the North American drink market's. It is interesting to note the specifics in the NHL's prohibition on alcohol endsorsements. According to the NHLPA, the section "Article 24 - Endorsements; Sponsorships; Licensing" has as its top regulation: "25.1 No Player shall be involved in any endsorsement or sponsorship of alcoholic beverages (excluding malt-based beverages such as beer) and/or tobacco products." So, it is not all alcoholic products, just the hard ones. Again, it must be a Canadian thing to ensure that our favourite hockey stars can still be seen enjoying a good ol' beer.
But really, why would the players collude with the NHL to include such a specific regulation about endsorsements:
1) Social Norms: A cleaner, more positive image of players and the league fits in with an overall trend over the last thirty years towards health and fitness. Others might chalk it up to political correctness. In any case, the lure of big endsorsements means that kids will not grow up thinking that "liquor is quicker".
2) Athletic Performance: All sorts of legal, illegal and paralegal drugs (GSB, pot) have replaced alcohol as the low-calorie "drug of choice" for athletes who want to binge without the ill-effect on their training regimen. Especially in weight-conscious sports like boxing and mixed martial arts, a few extra pounds here and there can mean the difference between a championship belt and a non-title fight (subject to fines and lesser purse amounts).
3) Players as Assets: Most athletes' contracts have a morals clause that stipulates avoidance of certain behaviours and adherence to a strict code of conduct. Mostly to curb players from indulging in self-destructive behaviour, more and more, players have become investments that require protection (especially from themselves) in order for the revenues to keep coming.
While tobacco has received much greater restriction than alcohol has to date, there is a trend that is growing. Athletes should not have to hide in the shadow to enjoy their vices, since most of the fans that are watching the games are usually participating in theirs. In a marketing sense, companies need to reach the audiences that are going to appreciate their products the most and athletes are a vehicle in that process. An important one. For the energy drink in question, Laraque's ill-advised endorsement has achieved the publicity they desired. Cheers!
Link to the commercial: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Has-Georges-Laraque-s-sexy-drink-ad-really-offen?urn=nhl,195721
In years gone by, athletes could get away with a harder living lifestyle of boozing and womanizing. Professional hockey and football players still enjoy a priviledged lifestyle full of decadence like most men can never hope to emmulate, but having a sterile clean public persona has become vital to securing lucrative sponsorship deals. Furthermore, that sort of lifestyle -- while it does still exist to a certain degree -- is simply not tolerated by society any more. Discussions of self-destructive behaviour versus morality and decency aside (what would happen if Theoren Fleury and Michael Irvin had partied together?), alcohol and professional sports have underone a dramatic change in their relationship to each other. So how and why has there been such a role reversal with regard to alcohol marketing, and sports sponsorships?
Montreal Canadiens' toughman, Georges Laraque has recently received public condemnation for an online commerical he appeared in for an alcoholic energy drink, Octane 7.0, that combines 80 mg of caffeine with 7-percent alcohol. In the ad, scantily clad women stretch and warm up seductively for the vast majority of the spot. Suddenly, near the very end of the 1:06 spot, Laraque bursts onto the scene with cans of the alcoholic energy drink and they all begin to play road hockey. While some have decryed the promotion as sexist -- Laraque has since apologized for appearing in it -- the big point of controversy has been that the endorsement has been in direct violation of the NHLPA collective players' agreement.
Times have changed. Alcohol and sports have been a natural fit for decades, and still a large part in most professional leagues' revenue. Schenley once named the CFL's most valuable player awards, and Gibson's is now one of the league's major sponsors. Perhaps it is a Canadian thing, favouring rye whisky and all. Many drink companies in Europe (Carling being the most notable) have switched their marketing efforts away from sports and towards music festivals where audiences are larger and more diverse. Sports, after all, is a male dominated market, but then, so is the North American drink market's. It is interesting to note the specifics in the NHL's prohibition on alcohol endsorsements. According to the NHLPA, the section "Article 24 - Endorsements; Sponsorships; Licensing" has as its top regulation: "25.1 No Player shall be involved in any endsorsement or sponsorship of alcoholic beverages (excluding malt-based beverages such as beer) and/or tobacco products." So, it is not all alcoholic products, just the hard ones. Again, it must be a Canadian thing to ensure that our favourite hockey stars can still be seen enjoying a good ol' beer.
But really, why would the players collude with the NHL to include such a specific regulation about endsorsements:
1) Social Norms: A cleaner, more positive image of players and the league fits in with an overall trend over the last thirty years towards health and fitness. Others might chalk it up to political correctness. In any case, the lure of big endsorsements means that kids will not grow up thinking that "liquor is quicker".
2) Athletic Performance: All sorts of legal, illegal and paralegal drugs (GSB, pot) have replaced alcohol as the low-calorie "drug of choice" for athletes who want to binge without the ill-effect on their training regimen. Especially in weight-conscious sports like boxing and mixed martial arts, a few extra pounds here and there can mean the difference between a championship belt and a non-title fight (subject to fines and lesser purse amounts).
3) Players as Assets: Most athletes' contracts have a morals clause that stipulates avoidance of certain behaviours and adherence to a strict code of conduct. Mostly to curb players from indulging in self-destructive behaviour, more and more, players have become investments that require protection (especially from themselves) in order for the revenues to keep coming.
While tobacco has received much greater restriction than alcohol has to date, there is a trend that is growing. Athletes should not have to hide in the shadow to enjoy their vices, since most of the fans that are watching the games are usually participating in theirs. In a marketing sense, companies need to reach the audiences that are going to appreciate their products the most and athletes are a vehicle in that process. An important one. For the energy drink in question, Laraque's ill-advised endorsement has achieved the publicity they desired. Cheers!
Link to the commercial: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Has-Georges-Laraque-s-sexy-drink-ad-really-offen?urn=nhl,195721
