NYTimes.com reports that Takeru Kobayashi will appear in Coors Light’s new advertising campaign:

The [Silver Bullet] train shows up at the end of the commercials that are to begin running next week, which present men of superlative achievement offering humorous endorsements of Coors Light as “the world’s most refreshing beer.”

The endorsers include Michael Johnson, identified as “the world’s fastest man,” and Takeru Kobayashi, identified as “the world’s fastest eater.”

The commercials are in a funny way a counterpoint to a successful radio campaign for Bud Light beer, sold by Anheuser-Busch, which offers mock salutes to “real men of genius” who are actually imaginary magnates of dubious achievement.

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Deresque was disappointed to learn that a picture of himself at a contest was placed on the back of the candy endorsed by Nobuyuki Shirota and Tomoko Miyake without his permission and more upset when he realized that the candy manufacturer had obtained the legal right to do so without his awareness:

When… with you think, the occasion where it occurs to the certain conference

‘All image photographs of the conference revert to the conference. ‘

With applying, you say, you sign to the letter of consent.

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blog.gansotorokatsucurry.com reports that candy endorsed by Nobuyuki “The Giant” Shirota and Tomoko Miyake will go on sale on March 26.

In his blog, Shirota states his design goal for his candy:

‘Of the snack which is agreeable to the beer’ was thought in theme.

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(From R Suzuki) A Mastercard commercial in which Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas have a hot dog showdown facilitated by Mastercard PayPass can be viewed at http://www.priceless.com/cards/paypass/takerukobayashi.html The video can be downloaded at http://www.priceless.com/cards/paypass/downloadvideos.html

updated mediapost.com reports that the Kobayashi & Sonya Thomas ad will only be available online and not televised. A commercial for paypass will be broadcast during the Academy Awards Sunday, but it will star an elephant.

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IFOCE announces that the cable network Spike TV will broadcast four Major League eating events in 2007 starting with the Saint Patrick’s Day Showdown in Savannah, GA which will be televised from a same day tape on March 17 at 7pm. The new contest will be a tournament similar to Broadway at the Beach and Takeru Kobayashi, Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, “Humble” Bob Shoudt and Chip Simpson are expected. The other three events to be televised in 2007 have yet to be determined. It is not mentioned if Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest will remain on ESPN or be shifted to Spike.

A Reuters article and press release are also available.

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Brandweek has an article about the advertising campaign for redesign of the Heinz Ketchup bottle which mentions Nelson Peltz’ desire to have Heinz cosponsor Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

More recently, Heinz CEO William Johnson has been locked in a bitter public fight with one his investors, Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners, New York. Peltz has argued that Johnson has nickel-and-dimed the brand, even failing to spend what he believes would have been about $200,000 to sponsor Nathan’s annual hot-dog eating contest, which has no condiments partner.

Johnson, however, has argued that it was he who came up with the plan to restart spending behind Ketchup. The recent pledge to evoke “Anticipation”-era ad spending is in Heinz’s 2006 annual report. The campaign will be created by Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, a rep said.

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In its Best of 2006 Advertising/Marketing list, QSR Magazine gave Moe’s Burritos for Life contest, a tournament with first round contests at all Moe’s Southwest Grill franchises, the Best Marketing Off the Menu award. Some eaters who competed in that event, (or attempted to enter and were prohibited) might dispute that claim. 3,000 people are claimed to have competed in the first round.

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Wing Bowl 15 DVDs are available for sale at wingbowlvideo.com for $12. Proceeds from DVD sales will go to the Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and the Christopher Reeve Foundation. DVDs will be shipped around March 1.

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Philly.com has an article about how the Wing Bowl and competitive eating in general has had difficulty landing national corporate sponsorships.

So, for Wing Bowl, Rayfield courts local advertisers and waits for the other guys to realize what they’re missing. This year WIP came close to signing a national TV deal, he said, and next year he hopes to do more than come close.

“As the person responsible for the event, I like to think I get a little smarter every year,” he said. “Each year it gets bigger, the publicity spreads wider. We’ll keep figuring out better ways to monetize it. But you sort of go where the fish are.”

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mercurynews.com has an article about the aftermath of the fatality in the water drinking contest:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we all got a letter: No more stunts, ever, of any kind,” said KSAN-FM (107.7) program director Larry Sharp. “It’s terrifying. All stunts probably have some measure of danger. Anything can go wrong.”

Since 1938, when Orson Welles aired his famous “The War of the Worlds” play, radio stunts have gotten stations and hosts in trouble. Many hosts have been fired but often hired elsewhere. This is the first time in anyone’s memory that 10 people, including managers were fired

In other news, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department is now investigating the death as a homocide.

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The maker of the “Food Fighter” diet pill uses a picture of Kobayashi in their webpage for online sales. I am not sure if Kobayashi has given his permission to use his image in their advertising.

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Super Paul Barlow Jr. has a cafepress page with competitive eating themed T shirts, hats and magnets at http://www.cafepress.com/tropicmon The magnet shifts the site of Picasso’s Guernica to an eating contest.

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Trophy Central is selling trophies specifically designed for victors of eating contests.

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Nobuyuki “The Giant” Shirota and Tomoko Miyake are endorsing a garment called the turbocell. The turbocell looks like bike shorts, but its manufacturer claims that it raises body temperature and makes weight loss easier.

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Brooklyn Papers reports that the Astroland theme park in Coney Island has been sold to developers who intend to build a mini Las Vegas on the site. Tim Janus is quoted.

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(from kmikeym) A set of the magnets of the 2006 Nathan’s finalists made by Liz & Krista and praised by Kobayashi are for sale on ebay. The funds will go towards Liz’s travel expenses to cover contests, so the more you bid, the more contest writeups will appear on urbanhonking.com

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competitiveeatingnews.com says that it is “very likely” that heartburn remedy Axia 3 will sponsor the 2006 Thanksgiving Invitational. Previous Thanksgiving invitationals have been held in New York City, but the food changed from year to year.

Crazy Legs Conti will appear at an amateur wing eating contest at the Wingery in Covington, LA, on Thursday, the first Lousiana IFOCE event since Katrina.

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A list of every IFOCE eater to win money after July 5 is available after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

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An article about the Toyota Scion in today’s Wall Street Journal says that Toyota intends to drastically reduce television advertising for that brand and focus more on event marketing and branded entertainment. Toyota trucks sponsored an IFOCE contest at the Indiana State Fair and an IFOCE blurb said that several top IFOCE eaters drive Scions.

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Newsday reports that 2nd quarter earnings for Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs declined to $1.8 million from $3.1 million in 2005. No explanation for the decrease is provided in the article. Nathan’s did say that earning from continuing operations increased 14.1 percent to $1.5 million. Buisnesswire has more details about Nathan’s results.

updated Bob Shoudt says that the drop in Nathan’s non-continuing earnings is due to the sale of a parcel of land in 2005 and 2006.

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The blog for the conservative magazine “National Review” has an entry about the port security / internet gambling ban bill which takes an unexpected position on it.

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In his latest blog entry, Wing Tut predicts that some ranked IFOCE members will leave IFOCE because the loss of GoldenPalace’s sponsorship will decrease the amount winnable by eaters ranked outside the top 10.

The new poll asks if you think the standard prize distribution for IFOCE contests should be changed to award more to lower finishers to prevent this possibility or is there another change (if any) you would more like to see.

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(from “the Hangman” & “Wild Bill”) The ifoce schedule no longer lists the chicken strips contest that was to be held at the South Carolina State Fair on Friday, so it is safe to assume it will not take place. This denies Dale Boone an opportunity to see if his momentum continues from his Krystal win.

A posole eating contest will be held at the Sky City Casino in New Mexico on November 18. This is the second posole contest held at that site.

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online-gambling-insider.com reports that GoldenPalace.com will continue to accept online bets from the United States for at least 30 days while they determine a course of action. GoldenPalace.net canceled all of its sponsorships for October IFOCE contests this week.

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Andrew “Skinnyboy” Lane received a message from IFOCE headquarters:

I am extremely sad to announce that the breakfast burrito eating championship in Albuquerque on October 11, and the pickle eating championship in Raleigh on October 16 have been canceled. It is likely that the chicken strip contest in Columbia on October 13 will also be canceled, but that is not yet confirmed.

I would assume the AZ contest on the 28th is in serious jeopardy as well. If the SC and AZ contests are canceled, hopefully the jalapeno contest on Sunday will be a fitting end to the series.

updated from the Sicilan IFOCE.com has an official statement about the cancellations saying that the AZ contest will take place without any prizes. The jalapeno contest Sunday will be sponsored by Major League eating instead of golden palace.

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