When “News” is Actually Marketing...

Before I get into Sports Marketing, I share my thoughts below in the BLESSINGS section on the awful violence we’ve seen in our country this week & this year. I hope it blesses you & I hope we can remain a light in dark times. Lord, help us. 🙏🏼

Welp, we’ve entered a new era of Sports Marketing & advertising.

Last week, Serena Williams made the media tour promoting a company called Ro that allows her to access GLP 1s- the revolutionary & new weight loss drug. It’s been used by diabetic patients for 20 years, but in the last few has been discovered as a miracle drug for weight loss, addiction and other cravings.
This campaign was crafted as a “Confession”. It was all about how Serena was coming clean about how she’d lost so much weight. It was framed as removing stigma, because while this drug is the worst kept secret amongst the upper class and celebrities, it’s treated as hush hush.
Athlete’s promoting supplements and even drugs, is not new, but this feels different than the days when retired NFL players slapped their face on testosterone, hair replacement, or even Icy Hot. Here’s why:

The Rollout Matters

This latest move wasn’t a one-off endorsement. It was a full-scale marketing campaign — disguised as a “confession.”

Here’s how it played out:

• A PR team carefully crafted the narrative alongside Serena.

• They made sure the story was repeatable across every platform.

• Then, they pitched it as a “newsworthy” moment to Vogue, Women’s Health, and even The Today Show.

And yet… if you watch closely, Serena only talks about one thing: the product she’s endorsing.

The Overlooked Angle

Here’s what most of the talking points missed: her husband is an investor and sits on the company’s advisory board.

That connection didn’t make it into the majority of headlines — which makes the entire rollout feel calculated and the opposite of “coming clean”.

The Simple Solution

The framing of accountability & coming clean doesn’t work when there’s such significant incentives & conflict of interest in place.

I think the PR team could have easily added one line like “My husband and I believe in this service & product so much, that we’ve become investors in the company.”

Boom.

Marketing & PR (even sales) is a lot like a legal battle. We are often imagining our customers objections before we launch. This one feels INCREDIBLY obvious, but they missed it.

Maybe it’s because there’s more medical scrutiny than ever, or consumer trust in the American medical system is at an all time low. Or maybe it’s that we are one of the only countries to allow drug companies to advertise to us (still so bizarre), but this one felt different.

For now, I’ll just say: welcome to a weird new era.

For More Info

Johan Harri wrote a book on GLP1s and the experimental phase we find ourselves in. His podcast appearances to promote the book were FASCINATING. Lots of implications with this drug for our countries future: some great, some concerning. All worth considering!

Education:

The BrandFathers new episode is out NOW: This week, I interviewed Ryan Duet, Co-Founder and CEO of Plunge. He tells the story of how it started in a garage during covid and exposes the strategies that got them to a $100 Million/year company. Hint: they got in with Andrew Huberman, Rich Roll & others just before their meteoric rise.
This is a great episode of entrepreneurship, influencer marketing and more!

Blessing:

3 Reminders for Today: 

1. Our brains are not meant to watch murder & violence. Be kind to your mind. 

2. Legacy & Social Media thrive on Enragement & Extremes. The vast majority of people are decent humans w/ normal reactions like empathy & sadness. There are 330 million ppl in the US. It will FEEL like TONS of ppl from either side laugh or support violence, but they are the extreme fringes who get views by desperation.

3. America's key differentiator is that we can disagree civilly. We are losing this ability in algorithms & echo chambers. Cherish this gift & engage with people who don't agree with you on everything.

Lord, help us!