Subject: `Magic' Johnson's Ads for Pepsi Will Come Back Along With Him Date: Published: 10/2/92 (135 lines) Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. Marketing & Media -- Advertising: `Magic' Johnson's Ads for Pepsi Will Come Back Along With Him ---- By Joanne Lipman Television viewers in Los Angeles are about to see a familiar face reappear in Pepsi ads: That of basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who this week announced his return to professional ball. The commercials -- vignettes of school kids, street vendors and businessmen shouting "Go get'em, Magic!," intercut with shots of the hoops star in a gym -- were actually created to coincide with last summer's All-Star and Olympic basketball games. But Pepsi executives scrambled to resurrect the campaign just hours after Mr. Johnson's surprise announcement Tuesday that he will rejoin the Los Angeles Lakers. "It's very appropriate considering his announcement," a Pepsi spokeswoman says. The ad is "an unmitigated pledge of support." Other industry executives, however, question whether Magic will ever return to the top ranks of endorsers, even though he's heading back on the court. Some sponsors had backed away from the basketball star after his retirement last November, when he disclosed he was infected with the virus that causes AIDS. His return to the game forces sponsors to decide whether to support him or avoid him. Among his supporters, PepsiCo plans to begin airing its "We believe in Magic" spot nationally next month. Skybox International, a trading card company that featured Mr. Johnson and his son in ads over the summer, hopes to make him the centerpiece of its winter campaign. Several other companies are also mulling new ad programs using him, says Mr. Johnson's agent, Lon Rosen. "Sponsors are going to be very excited he's playing again," predicts Nova Lanktree, director of Burns Sports Celebrity Service in Chicago. "He's become a box-office draw again." Mr. Johnson could become even more marketable following the Lakers' announcement yesterday that the team is extending his contract for another year, for a sum insiders put at a staggering $14.6 million for just the 1994-95 season. That would be the largest single-season salary in team sports. Mr. Rosen refuses to confirm the dollar figure but calls it "in the ball park." Advertisers want to attach themselves to winners, and few things spell "winner" like cold, hard cash. Still, ad executives warn that many sponsors will continue to be skittish about signing up Mr. Johnson for fear of having their products associated with AIDS. "Regardless of what the endorsement community says, the HIV situation is controversial enough that it would take a company with a lot of guts" to use him as a product spokesman, says John Horan, editor and publisher of Sporting Goods Intelligence, a trade newsletter. Nestle, for example, last year scrapped a series of Nestle's Crunch candy-bar ads that it had filmed starring Mr. Johnson. Yesterday, a Nestle spokeswoman said those ads won't be resurrected, nor does Nestle plan to feature Mr. Johnson in other product ads. Crunch ads, "where the product is hero, were inappropriate," the spokeswoman says. Nestle instead is "working to find opportunities to support Magic in his cause" to further education about AIDS and the human immunodeficiency virus that causes it. Other sponsors, too, stick to AIDS-related marketing, keeping Mr. Johnson far from the limelight as product endorser. Miller Brewing is expected to announce a promotion starring Mr. Johnson next week that is believed to be AIDS-related. Miller executives couldn't be reached for comment. And while Pepsi's "We believe in Magic" commercial doesn't mention AIDS, it is also not a product commercial; it doesn't show Mr. Johnson or anyone else quaffing the soft drink. Mr. Rosen, Mr. Johnson's agent with Multivision Marketing in Los Angeles, insists Mr. Johnson is as viable a product endorser as ever. "His endorsements haven't dropped off," he says. While "there was some hesitation at first ...sponsors were educated in this whole HIV situation and didn't step away." He is currently in "active negotiations " over several potential new endorsement deals, he adds. In the endorsement community, though, skepticism reigns. While Mr. Johnson's return to the sport "will help his existing sponsors, I don't think it will help him in any way with new companies," says Stephen Disson, of D&F Consulting, a Washington sports marketing firm. "Companies tend to stay away from anything that's controversial, that isn't safe. This isn't going to lead to new things for him." --- Cold Remedy Suit Burroughs Wellcome, the maker of Sudafed cold products and a unit of Wellcome PLC, is suing Procter & Gamble Co. and its Richardson-Vicks unit, seeking more than $100,000 in damages and an injunction against a television commercial for Richardson's Dayquil cold remedy. Burroughs says the Dayquil spot is misleading and gives Richardson an "unfair and unfounded" competitive advantage over Sudafed Severe Cold Formula. The Dayquil ad compares Dayquil with Nyquil, Richardson-Vicks's successful "night-time" cold remedy with antihistamines, claiming Dayquil relieves sneezing, runny nose and watery eyes, as does Nyquil. "No product that doesn't contain antihistamines could do what they claim their product does," a Burroughs spokeswoman said. Both Dayquil and the Sudafed rival don't contain antihistamines, she said. Richardson declined to comment. Burroughs said its Sudafed products had annual retail sales of $125 million, of which Sudafed SCF accounted for about $25 million. Burroughs filed the suit in U. S. District Court in New York. New York agency D'Arcy Masius Benton Bowles created the spots and is a third defendant in the suit. --- New Perrier Products Nestle S. A. 's Perrier Group assigned advertising for Ice Mountain clear, fruit-flavored soda to Waring & LaRosa, New York, the agency that handles ads for Perrier sparkling water. Billings for the new product couldn't be determined. The new soft drink line -- cherry, blackberry, raspberry, and peach in 11-ounce teal-blue bottles -- is available in New York, Texas, Florida, Washington, D. C., and Los Angeles, said Perrier executive vice president Kim Jeffery. Its introduction follows moves into the category by Coca-Cola Co., with Nordic Mist, and PepsiCo's Crystal cola. In addition, Perrier's Celestial Seasonings ready-to-drink iced tea line is being readied for launch in San Francisco, said Mr. Jeffery. Mathieu, Donovan & Associates, New York, is creating ads for the brand, Mr. Jeffery said. --- Ad Notes.... ENDORSERS: Herve Villechaize, of "Fantasy Island" fame, is appearing as Igor in new Halloween commercials for the Dunkin' Donuts chain, a unit of Allied-Lyons PLC. "Fred the Baker" makes an appearance as Dr. Frankenstein in the spots, created by Ally & Gargano, New York.... Hospitality Franchise Systems Inc. signed "Today" show weatherman Willard Scott as spokesman for its Days Inn motel chain. Mr. Scott will appear in future Days Inn print, radio and television advertising, Days Inn said. Days Inn's estimated $10 million account is pending until early next year. 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