Did Levi Strauss Get Ticked Off?
Thursday, September 20th, 2007 10:52am CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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Levi Strauss has put Jimmie Johnson on notice that it will cease its personal endorsement deal with him and cease being the Official Jeans of the team, according to the Sports Business Journal (as reported by Scene Daily).
The report get to a conclusion that supposedly none of this had a thing to do with the fact that Dale Earnhardt Junior has come to the hen house, guns blazzing, and wearing Wrangler’s. Wrangler being Levi Strauss’ biggest competitor.
I’m sorry, but I’ll have to beg to differ on that one regardless of what we’re told to think.
Let’s get some facts out there.
Last fall Levi Strauss, who has been a personal sponsor of Johnson since 2004, re-upped their deal for another 3 years.
Dale Earnhardt Junior recently renewed his contract with Wrangler, citing their acknowledgment of history and relationships.
Let me see here. Something just doesn’t add up folks.
Here’s how I see it. While I’m not Tim (where’s he ran off to, anyway?), this should still make some sense.
This situation is plain and simple.
Even being a sponsor of the reigning Nextel Cup Champion, how can they compete and effectively market their brand when the most popular driver in NASCAR walks in the door wearing the competition? There just isn’t enough room in the hen house on this one folks. Levi Strauss either had an out, or asked for one. Either way, they’re able to walk out of a 3 year deal after completing just a single year of it.
“… Johnson’s business manager told the SBJ that the Levi’s contract had nothing to do with the Wrangler contract.”
Um, right.
“A corporate official told the SportsBusiness Journal that it would be going in a different direction than being the official jeans of the team.”
Really? Is that so?
OK, so when could a company just up and decide to move in a different direction and break an endorsement contract with only reaching the 1/3 mark?
Conclusion:
In summary, Levi Strauss is definitely moving in a different direction, as they stated. They had, or asked for, an out, and have effectively received their break from the contract.
The direction they are moving in is whichever one is farthest from Dale Earnhardt Junior and his Wrangler deal. They just can’t, or don’t want to, compete against their rival apparel maker combined with the most popular driver in NASCAR.
Can’t really say I blame them, but hey, why not pony up the truth instead of all the smoke and mirrors?
Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Junior, Drivers, Hendrick Motorsports #48, Hendrick Motorsports #88, Jimmie Johnson, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Teams
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I think you’re right about several things. First, Levi Strauss doesn’t want to compete with Wrangler. I have to say that Wrangler jeans look terribly uncomfortable to me, and I don’t care who wears them, I’m more of a Strauss fan. I think you’re also right that Jr. is probably the most popular driver in NASCAR. But should he be? I’m not 100% on that one. I wish him the best, but I think he needs to get back in the game a little bit before I’m willing to vote him my favorite again.
Stephanie said this on September 20th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Since when did Levi Strauss start marketing bunched panties?
ANS: Since 2007 AJ (After Junior)
Hmmm… The “Levi Strauss/Coors Cup?
LMAO… killer Marc.
Guess they took their drawers to another dresser.
Why doesn’t Strauss just say, “Yeah, we don’t like Junior, and we don’t want to waste our time competing with him.”? Seems like they might as well. I’m not entirely sure it matters who the sponsor is for the drivers, but I do think it’s important for the driver to fit the product (Kasey Kahne/Budweiser).
Josh said this on September 25th, 2007 at 8:53 am