NFL Launches Youth Initiative with Donovan McNabb

The National Football League has signed Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to be the spokesperson for the league's youth initiative, which will launch this month.

Just like last year's heavily rotated outerwear campaign that featured two young men wearing reversible Green Bay Packers gear, the NFL has its eye far downfield. This effort is designed to generate excitement for the youth business going into 2004, according to Jim Bel Bruno, the NFL's senior marketing manager, consumer products. "This year, we want to create a buzz and get people talking about the kids business," he says. "We want to feed the fire going into '04."

The efforts of last year's outerwear campaign are expected to come to fruition in the coming months. The outerwear featured in last year's ads?dubbed the "Son" commercials because that was how the two young protagonists referred to each other?is expected to be one of the hottest licensed items at retail in coming months, notes Bel Bruno. "Early on last year there was very little outerwear sold," he says. "We started something with the 'Son' spots to build on and inspire sell-through this year."

McNabb was chosen as the spokesperson for the youth initiative because of his role-model status, his appeal to children (including his charitable works and other off-field endeavors), as well as his sparkling on-field performance. "All those things made it pretty easy to bring Donovan McNabb on board as the spokesperson for the youth initiative," says Bel Bruno.

The national media campaign will include in-game commercials as well as radio spots, print advertising and POP retail extensions stemming from the television campaign. The focus of the campaign will center on a breadth of products for youth, including hard lines, apparel, jerseys, headwear, and outerwear.

?Matthew Herek