It goes without saying that San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker is a pretty big deal in his home country of France. But Nike is quickly learning that Parker’s fame in his native land has its limits.
The corporate giant has been ordered by a French court to pay 67,500 euros (approximately $74,000) in damages after a 2011 incident in which they placed an oversized Tony Parker French national team jersey on a statue of Winston Churchill. It was apparently a promotional stunt to commemorate France’s qualification for the Euro Championships that year. The national team, Parker included, proceeded to pose in front of the remodeled statue.
Condenan a #Nike por vestir de #TonyParker a una estatua de #Churchill en París
Enterate: http://t.co/j06Ioy2f7R pic.twitter.com/CXf9hfVFmW
— Mktg de los Deportes (@mktgdeportivo) July 2, 2015
The statue is located on Winston Churchill Avenue in Paris, having been unveiled in 1998. Public funding shouldered the over $275,000 cost it took to build the statue. Its sculptor, Jean Cardot only recently caught wind of the incident and proceeded to successfully sue Nike and marketing company Ubi Bene.
Churchill is one of the most renowned leaders in British history, a global figure whose fame is so widespreading that he even finds himself immortalized in other countries. Churchill is one of the very few non-French subjects to be honored with a statue in France.
While such an incident probably won’t cause Anglo-French relations to deteroriate to the point of a second Seven Years’ War, it’s doubtful that Nike envisioned their marketing ploy to go this awry. Still, the fact that it took them four years to be punished with a meager $75,000 recompense (at least for them) means they probably don’t regret it too much. And it’s hard to imagine that Parker, who saw his Spurs sign LaMarcus Aldridge and David West this offseason, cares too much about being upstaged in his home country by the late British prime minister.
No telling if Adidas plans to retaliate by placing a Joel Freeland jersey on a statue of Charles de Gaulle.
H/T Sporting News
