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Bryant's status as a pitchman pariah hard to shake
Nov 8, 2006
Bryant's status as pitchman pariah hard to shake
Nov. 8, 2006
By Mike Freeman
CBS SportsLine.com National Columnist
Each time I see LeBron James, the megastar of the Cleveland Cavaliers who is making a grab for the title of second most popular athlete after Tiger Woods, in one of those ticklish Nike commercials, I think, that could have been Kobe Bryant.
Every instance that broad, endearing smile of Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett is seen, a toothy presentation that could white out a full moon, and he is selling this video game or that one, I wonder, that could have been Kobe.
Once upon a time, before he was accused of a horrific crime, Bryant was the one pushing products and making pitches. The NBA world revolved around him. Advertisers wanted him.
Now, three years after Bryant was accused of raping a woman in a Colorado hotel room, it is clear that while Bryant remains a well-known commodity, he is often an ignored one, both by his own league and by dollar-dealing advertisers.
"When you talk about highly visible guys in the NBA, you start with names like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and other guys like Shaquille O'Neal," said Scott Sanford, senior client director for Davie Brown Talent, which negotiates celebrity endorsement deals for advertisers. "Kobe is still in the top five when it comes to recognition but there are still advertisers staying away from Kobe. They're gun shy."
Sanford said he has personally heard from several powerful companies seeking athlete pitch men that still want nothing to do with Bryant.
It is a remarkable transformation for someone that was once an extremely coveted star, both by the NBA and companies wanting a spokesperson.
If there was ever a sports stud who is visible but invisible, solid but also non-corporeal, famous and infamous, great but also a demigod, it is Bryant.
Bryant faces the double whammy, a kick to the groin to make an Oakland Raider proud. Many top advertisers believe he is still too hot to touch. Then there is basketball itself. As the NBA embarks on maybe its biggest push yet to scrub its image to a pristine polish after allowing players to thumb their bling at authority, Bryant, once the darling of the league, is being left in the dust by players with clean-cut reps like Bron-Bron and Wade.
The numbers are striking. Sanford's agency conducts what is basically a celebrity popularity poll called the DBI. It measures how celebrities score with the public in areas such as likeability and trust.
While Bryant still registers high in awareness, just behind O'Neal and ahead of NBA stars like James, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Wade, what happened in Colorado, as well as his reputation for at times being a self-centered phony, have clearly eroded his popularity and desirability.
The DBI results show that Bryant scores some 20 points behind those same stars in the areas of influence (the measure of how respondents believe the person is an influence on the world) and aspiration (how much respondents would want to be like that person).
Bryant also trails significantly in perhaps the three most important categories. Trust (how much trust do respondents place in the words and actions of the celebrity), appeal and endorsement (how effective a product spokesperson).
George Bush has higher poll numbers. Thus the rehabilitation of Kobe Bryant's image is progressing -- just startlingly slow. Bryant's image is no longer healing in the critical burn unit after several advertisers dumped him in 2003, but that battered image has still not left the hospital yet.
And might never do so.
The irony is that as well-spoken as Bryant is, he would be the perfect person to anchor commissioner David Stern's attempt to clean up the league's image. But Bryant can't be utilized because he is one of the reasons the league's image has taken such a beating.
Stern has called this the NBA's "new golden era." He is attempting to make sure the league does not slip into the slime. He has warned players about carrying guns. He has asked them to dress better. There is a tougher policy when it comes to technical fouls and a new rule to keep owners and others from haranguing game officials.
It's the new NBA: No Bums Allowed. In conjunction, the league has trotted out Wade and Bron-Bron, posing them as preening examples of buttoned down goody goodies that would never dare crash into the stands or blast apart a nightclub with a 9mm at three in the morning.
Bryant has been notably absent from this renaissance. The invitation was lost in the mail.
When you think of Bryant, you cannot help but go back in time. What if Bryant had not been accused of that act? What if he wasn't so stupid, so selfish? Would Bryant be a part of the league's new snapshot of its players? Would advertisers snuggle up next to Bryant and ask him to sign on the dotted line?
Would we have The Kobes instead of The LeBrons?
The reason for Bryant's current status as a low-fat star is a tangled plexus.
After Bryant was accused of rape, it was reported that several of his major sponsors, including McDonald's, dropped him. One sponsor, Nutella, a chocolate company, was forced to sever ties because their Bryant-inspired ad stated that Nutella was "Kobe Bryant's favorite spread."
OK, that's awkward. Funny in retrospect, but awkward.
The rape case, which ended when the accuser refused to testify against Bryant, is only part of the reason for Bryant's low popularity levels. Bryant remains a player who many fans outside of Los Angeles perceive as an arrogant toad.
Sanford ticked off a list of names, a who's who of NBA elite: Wade, Carmelo Anthony, James, Steve Nash, O'Neal, Allen Iverson, and Garnett.
Then he paused and said: "The biggest difference between Kobe and these guys is that Kobe has a selfish image among fans and potential advertisers. I don't know if I agree with that stereotype of Kobe but that is the perception, and believe it or not, that can hurt almost as much as the rape allegation."
Bryant himself played off of this perception when Nike this year aired one of the few major commercials he has done. It showed Bryant shooting free throws. "Love me or hate me," Bryant begins, "it's one or the other."
Can Bryant rebound? "It will never be the way it was for Kobe," said Sanford.
But he can get somewhat close. "If he can prove he is in it for the team and not himself," said Sanford, "and he can win games, then he can make a comeback."
Bryant less selfish?
We'll see about that.
