Bank of America says "No Bonds Celebration"

How pitiful is that?

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/business/industries/14219251.htm




No Bonds for bank
of 'Higher Standards'
BofA shuns star player accused of using steroids
BINYAMIN APPELBAUM
[email protected]

Barry BondsBarry Bonds might break Hank Aaron's home run record this season, but the Official Bank of Baseball won't be advertising in celebration.

Bank of America Corp.'s chief marketing officer says the bank will shun Bonds because of allegations the San Francisco Giant used steroids.

"A company like ours is always going to choose the untainted opportunity," Cathy Bessant told Bloomberg News in an interview Tuesday. "There is no reason to stand up for controversy."

Baseball is key to Bank of America's marketing strategy: America's bank, the official sponsor of America's game. But baseball is struggling with the public perception that some of its players are cheaters.

The company that advertises "Higher Standards" now wants baseball to improve its own standards.

"I could stand on the roof and scream that this issue has to get resolved," said Bessant, who was attending a sports marketing conference in New York. "Baseball has got to get the perception of drugs out of the sport. It matters. Cheating matters. It isn't OK to cork a bat. Cheaters shouldn't prosper."

Bonds is both the sport's most controversial player and the heir apparent to its most sacred record. He enters a new season next week with 708 home runs. Aaron holds the record with 755.

A Bank of America spokesman said the company was not judging Bonds' guilt. It simply did not want to celebrate the achievements of someone so controversial.

Another MLB sponsor, The Home Depot, said it would also refrain from advertising in connection with any Bonds record. PepsiCo Inc. said it would celebrate in a "muted way."

Sports marketing experts said Bank of America's stance was smart because it was consistent with the bank's "Higher Standards" message.

"There are companies that it makes sense for them to be in gray area," said Dan Migala, publisher of the Migala Report, a sports marketing newsletter. "But in a world of higher standards, I don't think there's any room for a gray area."

Migala cited the contrasting example of Reebok, the sneaker company, which stood by its endorsement deal with Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson after his arrest on weapons charges.

But the bank's gesture is incomplete. Bonds will still perform in a league sponsored by the bank, for a team sponsored by the bank, in stadiums liberally sprinkled with its logo.

And Bank of America has sponsored the league's "Player of the Week" award since 2004. Bonds has already won once during that span.

Bessant, who will step down as the head of marketing at the end of April, led Bank of America into its relationship with Major League Baseball in 2004.

Under her leadership, the company has not used individual athletes in its advertising. Instead, it has carefully associated with leagues and events, in part to avoid being tainted by the controversy surrounding any particular athlete.



Investigating Bonds

Major League Baseball will investigate any past steroid use by Barry Bonds and other players and plans to hire former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to lead the effort, ESPN reported Wednesday.

The league is moving in the wake of "Game of Shadows," a book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters detailing alleged extensive steroid use by Bonds and other baseball stars.


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What part are you considering pitiful?

 

barry's bond's career going down the toilet faster than the tidy bowl man

 

I can't believe this is happening. Now. Jump on the bandwagon.

 

no sweat for Barry.

ESPN will step in to fill the void.

 

alflallo

bonds tossing a syringe that someone threw at him in san diego.

 

wtf is wrong with his head?

 

Boy you're stupid.

He's drinking Nyquil like its water.

 

fucking cheater

 

Who didn't see this coming?