SOAPS Precis : Week of December 21st

"Branded A Cheat" by James Surowiecki discusses both the history of the athlete endorsement industry as well as the effect that personal affairs can have on the damage of a athlete as a brand. Surowiecki discusses both the creating of athletes as an entire brand, especially that of Michael Jordan, and; more recently, Tiger Woods. Athletes are created first as a brand of the team, and the more widely recognized the athlete is the more big businesses would like them to represent their companies. Micheal Jordan's brand of Air Jordan sneakers and other endorsements including Gatorade and Hanes has reshaped the athletic endorsement industry. However, the controversy discussed by Surowiecki is between that of the athlete as a brand the athletes personal life. An athlete is seen as a brand, a widely recognized person who should both exhibit and practice in representation of the company who is using him/her to get their product out. So it is relative that when an athlete damages his reputation or brand with legal toils or marital scandals then the companies that they represent would want to remove them from their brand. Athletes such as Kobe Bryant lost endorsement deals because of his legal woes almost five years ago, and has since recovered but has not been able to obtain as many endorsement deals as he had accumulated five years ago. It goes without saying that when you are "branded a cheat" or declared the spoiled apple of company that you represent, you, as the brand, must be a perfect well represented individual or your money will become a lot less plentiful.