Character Counts, Just Not So Much at Nike: Ben Roethlisberger’s Fumble
Character Counts, Just Not So Much at Nike: Ben Roethlisberger’s Fumble
Posted On: Thursday, April 15, 2010
Update April 21, 2010: The NFL announced it is suspending Roethlisberger for six games as a result of violating its “personal conduct policy.” Steelers President Art Rooney hedged on answering whether the team was shopping the quarterback. Will Nike continue to stand behind bad behavior?
Nike’s ads have long captured winning athletes and sports “heroes” as symbols of inspiration, tenacity, and personal empowerment. Increasingly the message from the thought-to-be role models has been torpedoed by their behavior off camera; the consequence of bad behavior hasn’t led to Nike dropping them from their marketing strategy. Think Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods.
Nike’s most recent bad boy is Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who has been involved in two different sexual assault investigations in the last year . Earlier this week, Fred Bright, a Georgia District Attorney, said Roethlisberger would not be prosecuted for rape because while significant questions persist about what happened, the evidence was insufficient to prove the case beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Nonetheless, Bright had a message for Roethlisberger: “Ben, grow up. Come on, you’re supposed to stand for something. I mean, you’re the leader. You should be a role model…. You need to be a role model for your team, your city, the NFL. You can do better.”
Not all goes well for Roethlisberger. Big Ben Beef Jerky has been pulled from the website of food marketing company, PLB Sports. While no criminal charges were filed against the quarterback, President Ty Ballou said PLB Sports was dropping its endorsement of Roethlisberger because he is “falling short” of company standards. Roethlisberger, faces potential disciplinary action from the Steelers and the NFL. Steelers President Art Rooney has said Roethlisberger’s conduct didn’t live up to team standards.
The bad boy as marketing draw is a business strategy that has failed to appeal to brands including PLB Sports, Accenture, AT&T, and Gatorade who’ve cut their ties to sports icons crippled by their own bad judgment.
Women are a huge market for Nike. It isn’t enough to market to women inspiration for what they can do wearing sneakers when the company stands by athletes like Woods and Roethlisberger who’ve operated with little evidence of character. Nike apparently has a different approach to falling short of company standards. Incensed at inhuman treatment of animals, Nike dropped Michael Vicks in his canine abuse scandal; dogs seem to rate higher here than women.
Gael O’Brien is a catalyst for leaders leading with purpose and impact. She is an executive coach, culture coach, and TEDx speech coach with a corporate and public affairs background. Gael is President of Strategic Opportunities Group. In addition to publishing The Week in Ethics, she is a columnist for Business Ethics Magazine, an Advisory Board member at the Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University and a Senior Fellow at The Institute for Social Innovation, Babson College.
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I’ve worked with Gael on some of her business ethics research, particularly in corporate governance and leadership. She has a unique ability to transform important and complex ideas into real world models for business practices. I’ve profited greatly from our collaboration.
Character is like integrity. You either have it or you don’t. It means what it means in the mind of the person defining it. Corporate decisions about withdrawing sponsorship are often transitory and sponsorship usually returns when the issue blows over and the sponsor believes sponsorship will again contribute to their bottom line. I don’t think those decisions have anything to do with the real character of the individual, sadly.
Good post and I agree with you about Nike. You mentioned that Nike was incensed at the inhuman treatment of animals in the Michael Vicks case and “dogs seem to rate higher here than women.” Sadly, it’s not just Nike. A few years ago when Californians voted to prohibit gay marriage again (Proposition 8) they also voted to extend rights to chickens (Proposition 2). It reminds me of the sad incident a couple of years ago when a woman jogging in southern California was killed by a mountain lion. The fund for the slain cougar’s orphaned pups received MORE donations… Read more »
[…] Character Counts, Just Not So Much at Nike: Ben Roethlisberger’sIt isn’t enough to market to women inspiration for what they can do wearing sneakers when the company stands by athletes like Woods and Roethlisberger who’ve operated with little evidence of character. Nike apparently has a different approach to falling short of company standards. […]