Joe Montana Takes Field for L.A. Gear : Retailing: The Marina del Rey company hopes it has found the right personality to beef up sales of its cross-training shoes.
Just months after landing the nation’s best-known singer, L.A. Gear scored again Monday with football’s premiere flinger.
Joe Montana, the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback who has won back-to-back Super Bowls, signed a three-year contract estimated at $3 million to $5 million to become a spokesman for the Marina del Rey company. Montana joins a growing list of celebrities, such as pop star Michael Jackson, who became an L.A. Gear spokesman last fall. The nation’s No. 3 athletic shoe company said it will introduce a “Montana” line of cross-training shoes later this year and a “Montana” line of jeans.
“I try to take advantage of endorsement opportunities without it becoming overly ridiculous,” Montana said in an interview before Monday’s news conference at a Marina del Rey hotel. “It’s probably pretty close to that point right now.”
Already a spokesman for Pepsi, Disneyland, Hanes’ fleece-wear line and Power Burst fruit drink, Montana said part of his agreement with L.A. Gear is to not sign as a spokesman with any other companies for several years. He was previously a spokesman for Mizuno, another brand of cleated sports shoes popular with athletes.
But Montana, who makes $2.55 million a season playing football, said that even with all the products he endorses, he still makes more money as a football player than as a celebrity spokesman.
Meanwhile, L.A. Gear hopes it has found the right personality to beef up sales of its cross-training shoes. L.A. Gear’s cross-trainer line is far outsold by rivals Reebok and Nike, which tend to stress performance over fashion. Now, L.A. Gear is countering with Montana, who says he plans to wear some newly designed L.A. Gear shoes on the field next season.
“If you have an advertisement, and it calls for a guy wearing cross-trainers, don’t you think more people will pay attention to it if the guy wearing the shoes is Joe Montana?” posed Sandy Saemann, executive vice president of L.A Gear, in an interview.
A new L.A. Gear commercial featuring Montana, which Saemann will direct, was scheduled to be filmed Monday afternoon and Tuesday at the Los Angeles Raiders’ training facility in Oxnard. The story line of the commercial is similar to the popular Nike spot that shows Bo Jackson playing a multitude of sports--and even strumming guitar with Bo Diddley.
The L.A. Gear ad will also show Montana taking part in a number of sports--including baseball, basketball, weight lifting, bike riding and aerobic exercises. The commercial will also include clips of Montana tossing a touchdown in one of the 49ers’ four Super Bowl victories.
“Maybe Bo knows baseball,” joked Saemann, of the commercial he will direct, “but Joe knows Super Bowls.”
He also knows how to make his big commercial moves while he’s still hot. “You never know,” said Montana. “My football career could end tomorrow.” Barring injury, he said he expects to play four to five more years.
“I’ve been watching L.A. Gear for quite a while,” said Montana, adding that he recently bought some stock in the company. Although it was one of Wall Street’s top performers last year, L.A. Gear stock has fallen off in recent months. It fell 12.5 cents to $25 a share Monday in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
At least one expert in the field of celebrity endorsements thinks that snaring Montana is a good move for L.A. Gear. “He’s the American hero,” said Alann Heldfond, president of the Hollywood firm Ingels Inc. “He’s good looking and well-spoken and everything an advertiser is looking for. Joe’s at a plateau right now. And he won’t fall unless something horrible happens--like San Francisco loses next season.”
