Brett Favre: A Great Brand’s Fall From Grace

Jump to Comments

I have been informed that this happens in Boxing quite often, but seriously, have we seen a bigger brand name in sports become as tarnished as that of Brett Favre during his on-again-off-again-maybe on-again retirement?

To be honest, it was ridiculous the first time he retired then unretired from the Green Bay Packers. Then, the “Brett Favre” brand name took a bigger hit when he signed with the New York Jets after learning his starting job had been handed down to Aaron Rodgers. Now, already into the NFL pre-Season, Brett Favre has been making headlines all off-season with his indecisiveness and desire to play has done it yet again. ESPN is reporting that Favre will be donning the purple and gold to start for the Minnesota Vikings. And likely taking his old No. 4 from backup to the backup to the backup to Favre, John-David Booty.

Now I don’t mind the fact that Favre still wants to play. The man needs to make a living. And it’s not like KISS has been on a “farewell” tour since the early 80’s. Right?

Anyway, on to the impact of all of this on the brands involved. To be fair, I am going to list them out in the order that I believe took the biggest hit during the last few years.

• Brett Favre: Obviously a brand name in and of himself, “The Gunslinger” has been one of the most recognizable athletes for the last 15 years. His image took the biggest hit, as everyone became tired or the “What will Favre do this off-season bullsh!t.” The name Favre is now infamous, tarnishing his great football legacy.
• The Vikings: We already saw this here in Boston with the Red Sox John Smoltz experiment, so it will be interesting in this will help the Vikings make the playoffs. Either way, I have seen the Vikings as a team desperate to land a Hall of Fame Quarterback publicly, while they have three other QBs on the roster fighting for the top spot.
• The Media: Seriously, this story was old news three years ago, and putting reporters on Brett Favre’s lawn in each off-seasons while he mulled his decision seemed quite excessive. I wish more people took such an interest in me finding a new job. I have had the TV on for about an hour and think less than 5 minutes has been dedicated to stories other than Favre.
• Wrangler Jeans: This is the only endorsement that I can tie directly to Favre. The ads show him playing backyard football with friends for years now. There is only one thing that I can say about the Wrangler/Favre brand strategy: Wrangler’s use of Favre is as consistent as Favre’s decision to retire after every season and then come back in a blaze of glory media spectacle.
• The Packers: To be honest, the Packers made out best in this deal by cutting Favre loose and putting the weight of the franchise on the shoulders of QB Aaron Rodgers. I wish Rodgers and the Packers the best of luck. It would nice to see the Cheese-head brand back on top of the NFL.
• The NFL: Just days after the Eagles sign Michael Vick, the NFL has yet another breaking news story to dominate the sports headlines.

There you have it. I somehow took a person, made him a brand and hopefully described how this entire fiasco had a lasting impact on the brand image of the parties involved.

1 Comment

Filed under Brand Identity, Branding

Tags: Brand Image, brand strategy, Brett Favre, John Smoltz Experiment, NFL