T-Mobile Drops Barkley Ads
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
This is probably the least of Charles Barkley's problems right now, but the telephone company T-Mobile has decided to pull all ads that feature the troubled analyst. Via Ad Age....
CHICAGO- T-Mobile has pulled its TV spots starring Charles Barkley following the basketball great's drunken-driving arrest on New Year's Eve.Seems like a knee-jerk move to me, but you do have to protect your brand at all times. If dropping Barkley is what T-Mobile felt they had to do, then you can't really fault them for doing so.
In a statement, a T-Mobile spokesman noted that the campaign featuring Mr. Barkley has been successful, but "given the recent developments, for the time being, we've replaced TV ads featuring Mr. Barkley with more general-market advertising." The spokesman added: "As he works through his personal matters, we will evaluate where to go from here."
T-Mobile has primarily featured Mr. Barkley in ads promoting its "Fave 5" program, in which calls to five designated individuals are free. One long-running storyline in the campaign involved Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade campaigning for a spot in Mr. Barkely's "Five," only to find himself endlessly harassed by Mr. Barkley once he made it.
The campaign has been integrated into TNT's "Inside the NBA" broadcasts featuring Mr. Barkley in the form of basketball-related top-five lists read on air.
T-Mobile Bounces 'Fave 5' Spots Featuring Charles Barkley (Ad Age)
Posted by
Awful Announcing
at
1:55 PM
Labels: Charles Barkley, Firings, Sports Advertising, Sports Marketing, TNT Basketball
2 Comments:
GMoney
said...
Jan 13, 2009, 4:24:00 PM
The girl he wanted a bj from is probably in his five, too
Anonymous
said...
Jan 14, 2009, 11:28:00 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm guessing that Leonard Little is in Chuck's Five these days.