Nissan sticks with Lance Armstrong as Leaf’s spokesperson despite escalated doping concerns [w/video]
September 5, 2010 by admin
Filed under Green Auto
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan, Green Daily
Amid escalating concerns over Lance Armstrong’s possible violation of cycling’s anti-doping policy, Nissan is saying it will stick with the seven-time Tour De France champion as the Leaf’s official spokesperson. Speaking with Ad Age, Nissan’s new marketing boss, Jon Brancheau, admitted that although Armstrong has received a significant amount of negative press, Nissan will support the cyclist while continuing to keep an eye on things. Ad Age prodded Brancheau with this question:
Nissan has made a pretty big bet on Lance Armstrong — he was featured in the first Leaf commercial, is displayed prominently on your website and you even sponsor one of his cycling teams. Now, there’s a ton of scrutiny around him with regards to doping claims. Does that worry you?
To which Brancheau responded:
This is something we’ll continue to monitor, but the claims are all unsubstantiated up to this point. He’s iconic, and he’s almost the epitome of innovation when you think about athleticism. We’re well connected with [Lance] and we continue to support him and the team. He’s backing down to some degree from cycling in future years but we expect him to be actively engaged in a lot of different athletic events, especially marathons and things of that nature. So we’re staying the course and continue to support him.
Let’s hope that Lance survives this sticky situation, but if he’s dropped by Nissan, we’ll gladly step in for him and take delivery of the first Leaf. Hit the jump to watch Nissan’s Leaf commercial featuring Lance Armstrong.
[Source: Nissan-Leaf, Ad Age]
Nissan sticks with Lance Armstrong as Leaf’s spokesperson despite escalated doping concerns [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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