Worthy’s Arrest May Sideline More Athletes as Ad Pitchmen

For many professional athletes, the real name of the game isn’t the game at all. It’s the paid endorsements. Arnold Palmer and O. J. Simpson have raked in bigger paychecks for promoting products than they ever toted home from the golf course or gridiron.

In Los Angeles, with such familiar Lakers figures as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pat Riley now absent from the sports scene, marketing experts said there probably is room for another Laker to emerge and join superstar Magic Johnson in the world of endorsement megabucks.

That could have been James Worthy.

But Worthy, the five-time NBA All Star, was arrested in Houston last Thursday on two counts of solicitation of prostitution. Police say Worthy consulted the Yellow Pages and dialed an escort service that Houston police had shut down and turned into their own undercover operation. Worthy is scheduled to be arraigned today in Houston. If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, he faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

What does all this mean to Worthy’s potential as a product pitchman? Experts estimate that Worthy annually pulls in upward of $300,000 for endorsing products such as Wilson basketballs. Now he could join an ignoble club of fallen heroes whose value as product pitchmen quickly dissipated after running into trouble with the law.

“Unfortunately, events like these do affect future advertising possibilities,” said Dave Burns, founder of the Chicago firm Burns Sports Marketing Service. “It may be several years before James Worthy’s name is presented at an ad agency.”

Earlier this month, track star Butch Reynolds, holder of the 400-meter record, was one of two athletes suspended from competition by the International Amateur Athletic Federation after testing positive for steroids. If the suspension is upheld, Reynolds could face a two-year ban from competition. Worse, it could eventually cost Reynolds his endorsement contract with Nike.

“We’re in the process of dealing with that right now,” said Liz Dolan, a Nike spokeswoman. “If a violation is proven, that will terminate the contract.” It would mark the first time that Nike ever had to enforce the so-called morals clause in one of its contracts and dump an athlete that it had signed.

Indeed, it doesn’t take much these days to frighten off advertisers--most of whom are already skittish about offending anyone. And as the media continues to chronicle the Worthy incident, some advertisers may be further alienated from signing athletes.

Of course, Worthy and Reynolds are hardly the first athletes with product endorsements in tow to put their financial futures at risk. Who can forget the 1988 Summer Olympics, when gold medal sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his medal after testing positive for steroids? That one episode may have cost Johnson upward of $10 million in endorsement contracts.

Even now, with Johnson set to run his first race in two years on Jan. 11, he still has no major contracts, although Italian sportswear maker Diadora and a Canadian fast-food chain have shown some interest. “No one has signed on the dotted line,” said Johnson’s Toronto-based consultant, Kemeel Azan. “They want to see how he does in his first race.”

In 1988, before Mike Tyson became heavyweight champion, reports surfaced that Tyson had beaten his wife, actress Robin Givens. Shortly after that, Pepsi lost interest in Tyson as a spokesman. Pete Rose, who may have been at the pinnacle of his endorsement potential, lost virtually all credibility as a pitchman when he pleaded guilty to tax evasion. And less than one week after slugger Jose Canseco was arrested on charges of having a loaded gun on the floor of his Jaguar, he was dropped as a spokesman by the California Egg Commission.

Although Wilson is the only major product Worthy now endorses nationally, he has previously appeared in ad campaigns for Wheaties cereal and Oldsmobile. Sports marketing experts disagree over the damage Worthy has done to his own endorsement potential.

“If he’s convicted, the damage is total,” said Marty Blackman, chairman of the New York sports marketing firm, Blackman and Raber. “He’ll be done for years.”

But even if he is found guilty, “this doesn’t have to mean the end of his endorsement career,” said Barbara Pinska, who until recently was publicist for Pete Rose. “I’d tell him to make a public statement as soon as possible and be as honest as possible. The public doesn’t turn its back on people who are honest.”

On that note, Worthy did make a statement Sunday before a game. “I made a major mistake and I can’t dwell on it,” he said. “It’s a tough problem, but it’s not going to go away. I know I’ve hurt some people badly, and I’ve got to address that.”

Wilson Sporting Goods said Worthy’s status with the company is unclear. Worthy is in the middle of a multiyear contract that permits Wilson to place his name on some of its basketballs. “We think he’s a hell of a guy,” said Guy Thomas, basketball product manager at Wilson. “We’re still waiting to see what situation takes place.”

Meanwhile, as recently as this year’s NBA playoffs, General Mills was still airing a TV commercial that featured Worthy being lectured by Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan: “You better eat your Wheaties.” But a General Mills spokeswoman said, regardless of the latest incident, the company had no plans to run that ad anymore.

The spokeswoman said there are no red faces at General Mills just because of the recent Worthy incident. “We think it was a really good ad,” said Kathryn Newton, public relations manager. “We can’t control what people do. We don’t own that problem.”

That’s certainly not how the California Egg Commission reacted after Canseco was arrested on charges of carrying a concealed weapon in April, 1989.

“We immediately jerked the commercial,” said Robert Pierre, president of the commission. The ad, which was scheduled to run for a year statewide, ran only 12 weeks. “Why push a guy who has a gun in his car?” posed Pierre. “Never again will we use testimonial ads.”

But since then, Canseco’s Beverly Hills agent insists that the slugger has had no problem finding products to endorse. “The phone is ringing off the hook,” said Jeff Borris of the Beverly Hills Sports Council. “We get calls for anything and everything imaginable.”

While Canseco does have everything from a candy bar to a video game named after him, he is not appearing in national campaigns for any products. Still, his agent says there are some offers on the table. “No one cares if Jose made a rolling stop at a stop sign,” said Borris. “They care if he hits one out of the park.”

L.A. Agency Sees Green in Dressing Account

First there was Mrs. Butterworth. Then there was Mrs. Fields. Now along comes Mrs. Kinney.

Mrs. Kinney? Well, she may not be a household name yet, but that is the name of a new, all-natural line of salad dressing. And the Los Angeles agency Campbell and Wagman has been handed the estimated $2-million advertising business for the line created by Santa Monica-based Kinney Foods International.

The salad dressing, which is sold in the refrigerated section, has been availble at Southern California supermarkets for nearly three months. But the ad campaign behind it, which will concentrate on its natural ingredients, won’t begin for several months.

“Whether or not we will bring a Mrs. Kinney to life in the ads is yet to be determined,” said Craig Campbell, president of the agency.

Southland Firm Lands Model Rocket Account

It’s not exactly Northrop or Boeing, but what the heck, it still flies.

That, at least, was the reaction at Mendelsohn/Zien Advertising last week when the Los Angeles agency landed the estimated $2-million Estes/Hi-Flier model rocket business. These play rockets, made by the Penrose, Colo.-based company, are among the top sellers in the world.

“We’re working for a company that sends up more rockets than anyone in the world,” said Richard Zien, president of the agency.

Nissan Ads Missing ‘Human Race’ Theme

Is Nissan’s ad slogan “Built for the human race” losing some human appeal?

Nissan says no. But in its newest TV and print ads for the Sentra models, the slogan does not appear anywhere.

Why? “We wanted to emphasize the new model and its positioning,” said a Nissan spokesman. What about Nissan’s next new-model ads? The heartbeats of America are waiting to find out.