Obama Cap - this is great marketing!

White Sox design Obama cap
Print This Story By ERIC FISHER
Staff writer

Published January 26, 2009 : Page 04
The Chicago White Sox are aiming to release a President Barack Obama-themed version of their cap in time for the start of spring training.

The club has developed two prototype designs of its club hat with Obama marks on the side and back. The hats have been approved by MLB Properties, and the White Sox now are awaiting a formal blessing from the Obama administration before league licensee New Era goes into production. Both designs will be made if accepted by Obama.

The White Sox enjoy a special relationship with the newly inaugurated president due to his roots in south Chicago. Should the hat happen as intended, proceeds from its sale would be donated to charities, likely ones that provide services near U.S. Cellular Field.


The team needs approval from
the president before it can
start selling the caps.Retail distribution would likely be tied, at least at the outset, to official league and club channels, such as the team’s stadium store and MLB.com’s online shop, but a wider release could occur should demand warrant it.

“We know exactly what we want to do with this [hat]. It’s just a matter now of getting sign-off from Obama’s camp, going through the proper channels and moving forward,” said Brooks Boyer, White Sox vice president and chief marketing officer.

“We’re very excited. This is somebody who’s obviously a White Sox fan, but more importantly, really embraces and embodies the attributes of our brand: the notions of pride, passion and tradition we rally around. He’s made it hip to be a White Sox fan,” Boyer said.

Sales of all White Sox hats have surged 25 percent since Obama’s election in early November compared with the same period a year ago. Obama himself is not part of that increase, as club officials have tried unsuccessfully to give him a fresh replacement for an older, tattered White Sox cap he owns.

The club is devising other marketing and merchandising opportunities around its most powerful fan and have developed an area within the team’s official Web site devoted to Obama.

While team officials said there is not a concern about upsetting conservative-leaning White Sox fans, pointing to baseball’s historic role as a political unifier, they are aiming to draw a careful line about how much they do in connection with the president.

“We don’t want to be overly opportunistic and exploit this,” Boyer said.

Sports marketing executives with Chicago ties said the club’s Obama embrace did not run much immediate risk of backfiring.

“Short-term, at least, this is a very smart business play,” said Tom Fox, former Gatorade and Wasserman Media Group executive. “There’s a tremendous amount of good will around this guy right now, regardless of political affiliation. As time goes on, and his positions in office become more defined, you do run some risk of this becoming more of a polarizing thing, but not in the short run.”

Reader Comments

NCAA Hockey on Sportsnet

I am fascinated watching this NCAA product on Sportsnet - a great game between Harvard Crimson and Boston College - the Beanpot Tournament. Big crowds wearing their alma matter sweaters, everyone cheering and even national TV. Pretty good for a market that is not supposed to be a hot bed of hockey. No wonder so many of our finest are now leaving the ranks of Junior A and going for the full ride US college route.

We have many problems with our fine public university system - not to mention TA and bus strikes preventing students from actually going to school - however, we need a better system of keeping our best athletes in this country.

Lets discuss this - what should we do?

GO CANADA GO!!!!!

I am here in Ottawa for gold medal game and this town is going nuts - as is the whole country. We were here for semi final with Russia and that goes down as the best game I have ever seen! Hopefully tonight we are even better and bring home Gold #5. Let's go boys!!!!!!

The waiting is the hardest part....

Sundin unlikely to make decision Thursday





Contrary to published reports, sources close to Mats Sundin say he intends on sticking to his original plan - making a decision on where to resume his career before Christmas.

It's not likely that there will be a decision today, however, and it is possible this saga could stretch through the weekend.

The only thing the Sundin camp is certain of is that a decision will be made pre-Christmas.

Sundin, 37, finished with 32 goals and 46 assists for 78 points in 74 games last season with the Leafs, leading Toronto in scoring for the fourth straight year.

The franchise leader in goals and points, he has played 13 of his 17 NHL campaigns with the Maple Leafs, who acquired him from the Quebec Nordiques in 1994.

Sundin has 555 goals and 1,321 points in 1,305 career NHL games since he was drafted first overall by Quebec in 1989. He re-wrote Toronto's record book over his 13 seasons in blue and white, scoring 420 goals and a franchise-best 987 points.

In 83 playoff games, Sundin has scored 35 goals and 74 points, with all but four of those points coming in a Leafs uniform. The two-time second-team NHL All-Star also won a gold medal with Team Sweden at the Torino Olympics in 2006.

I could not have said this better myself...

Dion must go, former Liberal deputy PM says

Stéphane Dion is facing calls from a senior party stalwart to immediately give up his post, the latest example of waning support for the Liberal leader within his own party.

John Manley, shown in a file photo, held several cabinet positions, including Finance and Foreign Affairs. (CBC)
Former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley said the Liberal caucus and party executive should move to choose a new leader before Christmas who can get the caucus ready for the resumption of Parliament in January.

"As a Liberal, I believe the first step for my party is to replace Stéphane Dion as leader with someone whose first job is to rebuild the Liberal party, rather than leading a coalition with the NDP," Manley said in an opinion piece in Saturday's Globe and Mail.

His comments come two days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper persuaded the Governor General to suspend Parliament and ward off, at least for the moment, the demise of his minority Conservative government.

That move came after the Liberals and NDP agreed to form a coalition headed by Dion and aimed at ousting Harper's government, which the opposition accuses of failing to propose an adequate plan to deal with the economic crisis.

Manley said the idea that the public would welcome Dion as prime minister after having rejected him during the Oct. 14 federal election "was delusional at best."

"Mr. Dion had seemed to accept responsibility for the defeat (although somewhat reluctantly), and should have left his post immediately" after the vote, wrote Manley, who is now counsel at McCarthy Tétrault LLP.

"Furthermore, in agreeing to the terms of the coalition with the NDP and the Bloc, Mr. Dion bound his successor to a controversial arrangement without even consulting any of the candidates to succeed him in the process, leaving them no option but to endorse it or break with him as party leader."

The Bloc is not an official member of the coalition, but has agreed to support it on matters of confidence.

The Liberal leadership convention is still scheduled for May. Some MPs, however, have said efforts are underway to speed up the process of finding a new chief.

Liberal MP Bob Rae, who is considered one of the frontrunners of the race to replace Dion, admitted Saturday that the current situation is becoming difficult.

"Mr Dion has already said that he's not staying on. If the party wants to move dates around or move things up, we're certainly open to that as long as what emerges is seen as a credible process and one that has a lot of integrity to it."

Rae's leadership rival, Michael Ignatieff, told the Toronto Star that "discussions are ongoing" to replace Dion before the party's leadership convention in May.

"What the party is discussing is whether there are ways in which the leadership race can be accelerated in such a way that we can present a clear alternative to the country," he was quoted as saying.

On Friday, Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy suggested the party might move up the date for changing leaders.

Dion avoided answering questions about his future as head of the party during a pro-coalition rally in Toronto Saturday.

An EKOS poll conducted Thursday night found 60 per cent of Canadians surveyed think Dion should resign as Liberal leader in light of what has happened on Parliament Hill this week.

By comparison, 37 per cent of respondents said they think Harper should step down.

In total, a random sample of 1,502 Canadians aged 18 and over responded to the telephone survey. A sample of this size provides a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

With files from the Canadian Press

Tired of Big Auto Bailout - read this from cnn.com

Hooray for Rep Gary Ackerman of NY!!!!

This hand in cap bullshit has to stop - these old economy companies can easily start with saving money by looking in house.

Big Three auto CEOs flew private jets to ask for taxpayer money


(CNN) -- Some lawmakers lashed out at the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies Wednesday for flying private jets to Washington to request taxpayer bailout money.

Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli, left, and Ford CEO Alan Mulally testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

"There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses," Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, told the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee.

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious."

He added, "couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it."

The executives -- Alan Mulally of Ford, Robert Nardelli of Chrysler and Richard Wagoner of GM -- were seeking support for a $25 billion loan package. Later Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reversed plans to hold a test vote on the measure.
An aide told CNN that Reid decided to cancel the test vote when it became clear the measure would fall well short of the 60 votes needed. Reid did, however, make a procedural move that could allow a vote on a compromise, which several senators from auto-producing states were feverishly trying to craft.
At Wednesday's hearing, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California, pressed the private-jet issue, asking the three CEOs to "raise their hand if they flew here commercial."

"Let the record show, no hands went up," Sherman said. "Second, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand if you are planning to sell your jet in place now and fly back commercial. Let the record show, no hands went up."

Economic Woes????

I am personally not sure where the hell this current mess is headed but I continue to see signs of even more decay and collapse, especially in the first quarter of 2009. It was bad enough to see some of the world's biggest banks and investment house collapse, but Jesus, now we are talking about GM and Chrysler going under. GM??? Now I have never been a big fan of their union workers, but this one is well beyond that group. We have lousy long range planning, weak marketing and too many brands out there. Geez ... that sounds like a hundred companies out there

But I digress. I can worry myself sick about this or I can continue to strike a great work-life balance, enjoy my wonderful life and family and all of the good things I have going. I admit I have become a fan of "The Secret" and I am focussing on the good and will be dammed if I am going to fixate on bad business news.

Let's be positive, spend and invest wisely and get through this. As I always say "This too shall pass....."