Olympic champion gymnast lands endorsement for Kemps milk, ice cream
By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 6, 2004
Olympic hero Paul Hamm has made his first vault from gold medalist to celebrity product endorser, landing a deal that includes a signature flavor of ice cream: gold medal pecan swirl.
Hamm, a 22-year-old Waukesha native who won the Olympic all-around men's gymnastics competition in August, has signed an endorsement contract with Minneapolis-based Marigold Foods LLC for its Kemps brand milk and ice cream.
Hamm sports a milk mustache for a Kemps milk newspaper advertisement - the first post-Olympics endorsement for the gymnast.
Finally, Kemps is creating a special ice cream flavor to commemorate Hamm's Olympic performance. The flavor, gold medal pecan swirl, has a base of butter pecan - Hamm's favorite - blended with thick caramel swirls and caramel-filled chocolate "gold medals."
The flavor will appear on Wisconsin grocery store shelves by Nov. 1 and will be available through January.
As a celebrity endorser, Hamm appealed to Marigold's strategy of selling Kemps' milk as a wholesome beverage with health benefits, said Rachel Kyllo, marketing vice president.
In addition to Hamm's athletic ability, the gymnast's perseverance, "great attitude" and Wisconsin roots made him an obvious choice as an endorser for the company, Kyllo said.
Hamm's come-from-behind gold medal victory at the Athens games was controversial.
Because of a judging error discovered after the competition was completed, the International Gymnastics Federation asked Hamm to give his gold medal to South Korean gymnast Yang Tae-Young, who earned the bronze medal. U.S. Olympics officials argued the Koreans filed their protest too late, and the judges' decisions should be final.
Tae-Young appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has not ruled on the matter yet.
Kyllo said the controversy didn't lessen Hamm's endorsement value. "He's a champion in anyone's book," Kyllo said.
October 7, 2004
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NE, Switzerland (AP) -- A final decision on whether U.S. gymnast Paul Hamm keeps his Olympic gold medal will be released the week of Oct. 18-22, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday. Hamm won the all-around gold medal at the Athens Olympics, but South Korean Yang Tae-young wants the CAS to change the results and move him up from third place to first because of a scoring error committed by three judges. Hamm has said he will abide by the ruling of the CAS, which cannot be appealed.
