Bud sponsors Kayaker
Budweiser American Ale, an amber beer from the makers of Bud, has announced the signing of Eric Jackson as an ambassador. (see the press release here.)
Eric Jackson (known as EJ) is a remarkable kayaker. He represented the US in the Olympics for slalom kayaking. He has won the World Championships in freestyle kayaking (rodeo) an unprecedented four times. He has even been inducted into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame. He has designed the best-selling whitewater kayaks of all-time and now has his own kayak company (Jackson Kayak), which is number one in North America for whitewater sales, by a long shot. He guy is an icon!
The Bud deal is surely good news for EJ - I wonder how many cases of suds he's going to get? More importantly, it is a good thing for kayaking! EJ will be featured in ads and point of sale marketing (basically ads in the liquor stores/7-11s all over the US), which will introduce more Americans to paddlesports. Additionally, Bud will have a presence at paddling events which will introduce kayakers to their brand (read free beer at events).
I think anything that puts paddlers and paddling in front of the masses is bound to spin-off a number of people curious enough to give our great activity a try. And the more, the merrier - I say! Unfortunately, Budweiser American Ale is not available in Canada, so we won't be seeing any of the ads here.
