Under the “What was he thinking category..”

‘Ex-NFL Coach to Help Position $150M Male-Enhancement Brand as Mass-Market Product’

The above headline appeared in a recent article in Advertising Age, trumpeting football great Jimmy Johnson as the new pitchman for ExtenZe, a male enhancement supplement whose infomercials have been blanketing cable and satellite television for years.

Johnson is among the most famous football figures of the past 30 years. He was the first football head coach to win both a college championship (University of Miami in 1987) and a Super Bowl (Dallas Cowboys in 1992 and 1993). More recently, he has been a TV studio analyst for Fox Sports, appearing in its pre-game show on Sundays.

In his newest job with ExtenZe, Johnson told Ad Age’s Jack Neff,” “Most men want to perform the best they can in just about everything,”

In the TV ad, Johnson says, “Isn’t that why we buy the biggest and best of everything?” He signs off with the tagline: “Go long with ExtenZe. I do.”

The question is, why would a successful sports celeb like Jimmy Johnson choose a supplement that gives men hope of becoming better lovers/performers?  When I saw the TV ad for the first time this morning, I was more than surprised to see Johnson pitching for the product.

Tiger Woods took few risks when choosing which companies to associate with his reputation as a winner. This appears to be the opposite scenario for Johnson, in terms of the potential hit to his image and legal risks of pitching a product that the FDA has not evaluated for the claims made in ads.

Some might say Johnson isn’t much different from professional athletes who do ads for beers or pain remedies. As a public relations and reputation management consultant, I beg to differ. It must have been the money.