Whoa, Captain
Morgan in the end zone
Rum-maker's scheme for players to strike a pose
By Toni Fitzgerald
Nov 17, 2009
It was a brilliant plan, and no less brilliant for being sacked almost immediately by the NFL.
The idea: Hustle up free advertising during Sunday afternoon games by getting NFL players to strike a Captain Morgan pose after scoring a touchdown, Captain Morgan being the mascot of the spiced rum brand and the featured character in the Captain Morgan ad campaigns.
On the bottles the Captain is pictured with his left hand resting on his left knee, which is braced against a barrel. His chest is thrust out, and he wears a lusty smile.
The rum maker promised to donate $10,000 to the Gridiron Greats fund, which provides assistance to needy former NFL players, for each player who struck a pose during the regular season. It hiked the offer to $25,000 for the playoffs and $100,000 for pulling off the pose in the Super Bowl.
The campaign was supposed to kick off this past Sunday, but Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek heard about it earlier and jumped the gun, so to speak. He struck the pose during the Eagles' primetime game against Dallas nine days ago.
Celek caught the ball in the end zone, then raised his right leg and put his hands on his hips, a reasonable facsimile of the pose in the absence of a barrel. The NBC cameras caught the moment, and it seemed as though a new era of ambush marketing had begun in the NFL.
That is, until somebody figured out what Celek's pose was all about.
Last week the NFL put a speedy kibosh on the entire stealth marketing stunt, threatening huge fines if any other player pulled a Morgan in the end zone.
Captain Morgan himself was apologetic, saying that he understood the league's stance and promising to be more responsible in the future.
"I believe in drinking responsibly, marketing responsibly and helping charities too, but understand my friends at the NFL's perspective. I will continue in my quest for legendary times and ask my fans to do the same," said a statement credited to the fictional character, released Thursday.
It's rare that anyone gets something over on the NFL, widely regarded as the most efficient and the most guarded of the sports leagues. With many fewer games and much bigger audiences than other sports, it guards its sponsorships fiercely and squashes anything that could be construed as a guerrilla.
Two years ago linebacker Brian Urlacher was fined $100,000 for wearing a vitaminwater cap to a Super Bowl press conference. Gatorade is the official drink of the NFL, and players are not allowed to wear logos from rival companies to NFL events.
It didn't help that Urlacher was an investor in the company, prompting that much of a harsher response from the NFL.
But the NFL has quite a purse to protect. It makes nearly $300 million per year off licensing agreements and sponsorships, which are so extensive that the league even has an official toilet paper (Charmin).
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