A New Name at the Beach

The City of San Diego has become the latest beneficiary of the rampaging corporate trend to get company logos before the public eye in imaginative ways.

Nissan Motor Corp. has agreed to supply the city lifeguards with the use of 19 new vehicles a year for the next five years. At the end of each year, the city will have the option of buying the vehicles for 50% of their wholesale value.

In return, the auto maker will be allowed to place plaques on the vehicles indicating that Nissan is the official vehicle of San Diego’s beaches. The company also will have the exclusive rights among car companies to sponsor events on the city’s ocean beaches and will be allowed to use such phrases as “official vehicle of San Diego’s lifeguards” in its advertising. The city manager’s office estimates the deal will save the city about $225,000 a year.

Nissan approached City Councilman Mike Gotch, who represents the beach areas, with the idea last summer. Last month its approval sailed through the council.

The Nissan deal follows by a few years a similar arrangement with Coppertone, which has provided the city with large, yellow trash cans at the beaches. Nissan’s involvement is particularly appropriate, however, because its Nissan Design Center in Sorrento Valley makes it a member of the local corporate community.