I'd become used to seeing pro golfer Phil Mickelson on television promoting his favorite prescription drug (it's Enbrel, I think - but I'm not sure what it does). In my mind, he had become notable mostly for being able to pronounce the phrase "I've been in your shoes" so woodenly that you would suppose he actually HAD been in them.
But this week something new caught my eye. What's that on his cap? Hmm, a logo - KPMG! A consulting company, as I understand it. But wait, there's something different on his shirt ... "Barclay's," it says - presumably the banking folks. I checked briefly on the internet to see if by any chance these products were related -- maybe all owned by Walt Disney or something? -- but that seems not to be the case.
What I did find, though, was a brief report in Forbes Magazine that notes:
Mickelson earns more than $30 million annually from endorsement partners: Callaway, Barclay's, KPMG, Exxon, Rolex and Amgen/Pfizer. He picked up the deal to promote psoriatic arthritis drug Enbrel after he was diagnosed with the disease in 2010 and used the drug for his treatment.
Obviously there's a whole new trend of product placement, with ads visually touting one or more brands while the speaker is pushing a difference product. I'm not sure if it's effective - I thought subliminal advertising had been rather discredited some time ago. We grew used to the practice in movies in the first decade of this century, but we don't see it so much any more.
But I wouldn't be surprised if Mickelson were wearing a Rolex in that ad, too. And if they can figure how to run an ad that shows him bending over, I strongly suspect he'll have Exxon on his back end!