Subject: `Magic' Johnson Slams Converse Ad Philosophy 
Date: Published: 7/23/92 (73 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Advertising:
    `Magic' Johnson
    Slams Converse
    Ad Philosophy
    ----
    By Laura Bird
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    NEW YORK -- Basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson stunned the
 high-stakes world of celebrity advertising by going public with
 stinging criticism of Converse Inc., the sneaker company whose
 products he has endorsed for more than a decade.
    Mr. Johnson blasted the North Reading, Mass., unit of Interco
 Inc. by expressing his desire to end his endorsement contract two
 years early and delivering an embarrassing slam-dunk of its
 advertising philosophy.
    "Converse is still living in the 1960s and '70s," Mr. Johnson
 said, according to an Associated Press report.  "They haven't arrived
 in the '80s and '90s where advertising and marketing are the keys.
 Guys like Larry Bird and myself can't take ourselves to the next
 level."  Converse has endorsement contracts with several National
 Basketball Association players, including Larry Bird, and it also
 sponsors the U. S. Olympic basketball team.
    Sports marketing executives were aghast at the public nature of
 Mr. Johnson's remarks.  When a relationship between endorser and
 endorsee sours, the usual resolution is simply to let a renewal
 option expire, notes Nova Lanktree, director of Burns Sports
 Celebrity Service.  "It's never news."
    John Horan, publisher of the newsletter Sporting Goods
 Intelligence, said he suspects the remarks amounted to grandstanding
 on Mr. Johnson's part to renegotiate his contract, which is said to
 pay the star more than $1 million a year.  But the player's agent,
 Lon Rosen, said that wasn't the case -- his client "just wants out."
    "They've never promoted this guy the way they should have," Mr. 
 Rosen said, citing in particular an unsuccessful line of sneakers
 called "Magic," introduced in 1990.  "He really wanted a shoe line."
 Mr. Bird's agent, Jill Leone, said her client was happy with his own
 endorsement deal with Converse.
    Mr. Johnson's contract with Converse isn't set to expire until
 August 1994.  Whether Converse will release him couldn't be
 determined.  The company released a prepared statement saying the
 attack "came as both a surprise and shock."  The sneaker maker also
 noted that it was the first of Mr. Johnson's sponsors to cast him in
 a commercial after he announced he had tested positive for the human
 immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.  
    Mr. Johnson said he has been unhappy with Converse's marketing
 since he first signed with the company in 1980.  He said he had urged
 Converse to "take advantage" of its relationship with him and
 several others, "but they told me a player will never sell shoes .  .
 .  Then Michael Jordan came along and proved them wrong."
    Mr. Jordan's Nike endorsement is often credited with turning Nike
 into the dominant basketball brand.  A decade ago Converse was the
 No. 1 brand on the hoops court, with Nike and Adidas far behind.
 Since then Nike has become the No. 1 sneaker brand, with 24% of the
 $11.3 billion world-wide market, compared with No. 8 Converse's
 3.1%, according to Mr. Horan.
    Mr. Johnson's remarks came at an impromptu news conference in
 Monte Carlo, following a practice session of the "Dream Team" -- the
 U. S. Olympic basketball team.  His agent confirmed the essence of Mr. 
 Johnson's remarks.
    Converse is currently airing a commercial that plays off of the
 fact that Messrs. Johnson and Bird are going to the Olympic Games in
 Converse shoes.  The company refused to comment on whether that spot
 would remain on the air or whether Mr. Johnson would continue to
 wear Converse sneakers for the Games.

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