CMO Today: Sponsors Cut Ties with Ryan Lochte

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CMO Today: Sponsors Cut Ties with Ryan Lochte

By Steven Perlberg

Ryan Lochte Martin Meissner/Associated Press

LOCH, DROP AND ROLL: It’s a story as old as time: a celebrity does something bad and the sponsors go running. Well, it’s not exactly Jared Fogle and Subway, but swimwear apparel company Speedo USA felt the pressure from Ryan Lochte’s Rio robbery scandal and was the first sponsor to drop the Olympic swimmer, CMO Today reports. “We cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for,” Speedo said in a statement. The domino fell to another sponsor, Ralph Lauren, who said that its endorsement agreement with Mr. Lochte, which was specifically for the Rio Olympics, won't be renewed. Then the lesser-known brands, like mattress manufacturer Airweave and Gentle Hair Removal, also parted ways with the swimmer. Mr. Lochte, who won gold in Rio as part of the men’s 4x200m relay, will face an uphill—or upstream, as it were—battle if he wants to get back in the good graces of marketers.

GAWKER’S FINALE: The end of Gawker.com, brought about by a sex tape, a professional wrestler, a drawn-out legal case with a $140 million penalty and a billionaire with a grudge, “is a fitting conclusion to this experiment in what happens when you let journalists say what they really think,” Gawker founder Nick Denton wrote in the site’s final post on Monday. “Gawker’s demise turns out to be the ultimate Gawker story. It shows how things work,” Mr. Denton said. While Gawker.com was left behind in bankruptcy, the parent company’s other properties are headed to Univision, and Mr. Denton will be paid about $16,666 a month for the next two years (about $400,000) to not compete with the sites. Meanwhile, in another strange twist, Charles Harder, a lawyer who represented Hulk Hogan in his suit against Gawker, is representing Melania Trump as she threatens legal action against the Daily Mail and other news outlets for defamation, Politico reports. It’s too bad Gawker isn’t around to write about it.

DRINK RESPONSIBLY: The alcohol industry has a new marketing challenge: defending perceptions that moderate drinking is good for the heart. As The Wall Street Journal reports, public-health officials in multiple countries who once said a little booze had modest coronary and other health benefits are scrutinizing those claims as research emerges about alcohol’s links to cancer. Alcohol lobbyists, for their part, are funding their own research, but what governments ultimately suggest can have huge reverberations—just ask tobacco executives. Rule changes could affect how alcohol companies are allowed to advertise their products, if at all. In Australia, for instance, alcohol consumption fell once the government advised less drinking in 2009.

FOOTBALL FEUD: NBC and CBS are splitting “Thursday Night Football” games this season, but as Variety reports, NBC is trying to make the case to media buyers that its games are more valuable. Why? Because its games are closer to the holiday season when marketers need to get their message out. The NFL tried to schedule matchups with equal appeal, and Variety notes both networks are looking for between $550,000 and $590,000 for a 30-second ad. For CBS’s part, the network wanted a package of early games, so it could promote its primetime lineup to a massive live audience. For now it’s unclear whether NBC will be able to negotiate a premium or not.

ELSEWHERE

Facebook is going to roll out a new feature that allows for two-person broadcasts on Facebook Live. The feature would allow two people to broadcast together and share the screen. [The Next Web]

Hillary Clinton is reserving $80 million in ads through Election Day in eight states, but the campaign is avoiding local ads in Virginia and Colorado, swing states where polls show Mrs. Clinton ahead. [CNN]

Ad Age has a profile out titled “Cindy Gallop Doesn’t Care What You Think,” an inside look at the former agency executive who has become an outspoken promoter of diversity and sexual equality. [Ad Age]

Ad tech company The Trade Desk has filed to go public, with plans to raise $86.3 million. Filings reveal that the California-based business is profitable. [Business Insider]

NBC has a daunting task coming up with the next few Olympics in Asian cities that have a big time zone difference, raising the question of whether traditional TV ratings will take an even greater hit than in Rio as consumers’ media habits continue to change. [NYT]

Amazon is looking to launch a music subscription service, similar to Spotify and Apple Music, but it would be cheaper and work only for its Amazon Echo product. The company hasn’t yet finished deals with major music labels. [Recode]

Barbra Streisand called Tim Cook personally because Siri was mispronouncing her last name, saying “Streizand” instead of “Streisand” with a soft “s.” Siri will change the pronunciation with its next update on Sept. 30. [CNN]