Aaron Rodgers dropped sponsorships: Is State Farm next?
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Fans and football experts have debated Aaron Rodgers' future in Green Bay since the day Jordan Love was drafted. But now, the focus turns to his sponsorships after some controversial comments last week about his own vaccination status.
He's already lost one deal and another major company is putting some distance from the quarterback. Prevea Health was first and now, State Farm Insurance could be next.
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The company says it respects Rodgers' right to make a choice when it comes to his own health, but their advertising strategy this weekend tells a different story.
He took the chance to defend himself...
"I believe strongly in bodily autonomy and the ability to make choices for your body, not to have to acquiesce to some woke culture," said Rodgers.
But his comments Friday on The Pat McAfee Show are now having a ripple effect on the superstar quarterback's endorsement deals.
As he recovers from COVID, Rodgers didn't play in Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs… and he didn't appear in his normal share of State Farm advertisements either.
"From a monitoring standpoint, you obviously see this drop-off," said Eric Smallwood, president of Apex Marketing Group which studied State Farm's ad rotation over the last three weekends.
The company featured Rodgers in more than 20% of its TV commercials the last two Sundays in October. That dropped below 2% this past Sunday.
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"When you go from 25% down to, you know, 2%, that's a huge trend difference," said Smallwood.
Sharon Roy, a sports marketing professor at UW-Whitewater, says it would make sense for State Farm to move on given their line of business.
"Insurance doesn't want to be really funny. Insurance is one of those serious subjects that you don't want a controversial figure associated with you," said Roy.
But she said she doesn't think this is the end of his career as a brand ambassador.
Despite the change in ads, State Farm sent us a statement in support of Rodgers, saying he's been a great ambassador over the last decade.
The company says they don't agree with everything he said but respect his right to his own point of view.
State Farm adds they do encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
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