A Business is Only as Good as Those Who Represent It

A business-deal-gone-bad sent baseball great Derek Jeter to the media after a Swedish underwear company claimed he backed out of an agreement to promote their products.

Frigo, an underwear company based in Sweden, made claims that Derek Jeter backed out of a promotional deal because he didn’t want to be associated with rapper 50 Cent, another celebrity that the company was hiring to endorse their brand. It was indicated that Mr. Jeter felt 50 Cent was too “Urban” for the brand.

After Derek Jeter heard reports that Frigo was going to sue him for $5 million he told sources that the accusations were absolutely false, claiming that he was responsible for facilitating a meeting between the company and 50 Cent to begin with. Mr. Jeter also specified that he had never officially agreed to be a spokesperson for the brand which was later confirmed.

While 50 Cent did not immediately take to the media with a response, it has been stated that he, being a Yankees fan, was insulted to think that Jeter wouldn’t want to associate with him, making this business transaction one that has left both celebrities with a bitter taste in their mouths.

This confusion has to make consumers question Frigo’s business practices. This company had the opportunity to use two major celebrities to represent their corporation and now will predictably lose them both. It is considered Business 101 to know when to recognize great opportunities and to know that establishing a good rapport with your clients and those who represent you is the key to success.

In this instance in particular, it is well-known that companies that have major athletes as their representation sell more products. Similarly, a rapper like 50 Cent, with a Twitter following of almost 8 million people, would certainly influence the company’s notoriety and launch their product into a different demographic.

The fact of the matter is that a business is only as good as those that represent them. The way this situation has played out with these two celebrities will no doubt cause other celebrities who are asked to represent Frigo in the future to think long and hard before they sign on the dotted line.