Chrysler dodges Lingerie Bowl sponsorship
It's like the Holy Trinity of American popular culture- the Super Bowl, beer commercials, and now, lingerie-clad models playing tackle football. Guys nationwide will be paying $19.95 and just PRAYING that somehow, sometime, a bra strap will snap.
You'd think that any American company would kill to be a part of this stroke (no pun intended, guys) of marketing genius, right? Well, any company except Chrysler....
Chrysler has withdrawn its sponsorship from a Super Bowl halftime football game between lingerie-clad models, saying its role has become a distraction.
Organizers said the contest will go on.
Chrysler Group's Dodge brand had signed on to sponsor the pay-per-view event, scheduled for Feb. 1, but the automaker said Wednesday it has reversed that decision. The company has received criticism from some customers and dealers who consider the game sexist.
"Dodge brand's sponsorship of the Lingerie Bowl has become a distraction," George Murphy, DaimlerChrysler's senior vice president for global marketing, said in a prepared statement.
Mitch Mortaza, creator and executive producer of Lingerie Bowl 2004, said last week he had assured Chrysler officials that the game will be more than a lurid panty party.
The contest will feature 14 models -- seven to a team -- playing tackle football dressed in lingerie and some protective equipment. Former professional players Eric Dickerson and Lawrence Taylor will coach the teams.
It will air on pay-per-view channels for $19.95....
Chrysler officials had said they expected some criticism for associating with the event, but it was a marketing risk the automaker was willing to take because it broke through the Super Bowl's advertising clutter.
The automaker had said it would use the Lingerie Bowl to pitch Dodge cars and trucks bought primarily by men.
Using scantily-clad women to sell trucks to men?? (Cue the Claude Rains clip, willya??) I am shocked- SHOCKED- that women are being exploited in such a tawdry and unwholesome fashion just to sell trucks! And for only $19.95?? Such a deal, eh??
