Turning a blind eye to the Linsanity surrounding Chinese-American NBA newcomer Jeremy Lin in Asia, Dunkin' Brands Group has chosen to sign NBA all-star LeBron James to a multimillion dollar, multi-year deal to promote Dunkin' brands in China, India, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Dunkin' Brands selected James as its Asian "brand ambassador" in part due to his mass-appeal in China, CEO Nigel Travis told Reuters in an interview.
And what will James be peddling in advertisements, online marketing, and personal store appearances? Apart from the usual glazed donut suspects, shredded pork donuts will be tested in some of Dunkin' Donuts' 150 stores in China. They will also sell bagels with pork floss topping to appeal to a Chinese palate.
Beat that, Krispy Kreme.
Dunkin' Brands has 5,400 stores in the Asia-Pacific region and is planning on opening 250 more locations by 2015.
Having written and directed an (awful) ad in the past, we hope that Dunkin' gives James the creative freedom to come up with his own marketing ideas for the pork pastries. Advertising gold.
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