RETAIL : Footwear Importer Given a Leg Up by Clinton’s Jogging

Asics Tiger Corp., the Fountain Valley-based importer of athletic footwear, has a new celebrity endorser--and didn’t have to pay him a cent.

Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton was wearing the company’s shoes when he appeared on the front page of The Times recently as he was jogging with running mate Sen. Al Gore.

“Actually, that is what he wears,” said Asics Tiger spokeswoman Nancy Larsen. “He is seen frequently in them.”

While Clinton dons his Asics for jogging, he is seen in this week’s Time magazine in a pair of shoes from rival Nike for practicing his saxophone playing on the balcony of a Santa Monica hotel.

Larsen said that Clinton, however, has appeared in several magazine photos in his Asics, including Running Times. And just to show that the company has bipartisan support, she pointed out that President Bush used to wear a pair of Asics, too.