June 19, 2006 Berkeley Vale, New South Wales, Australia …. [Sanitarium Health Food Company/ANN Staff]
When 26-year-old Australian Socceroo midfielder Tim Cahill scored two of his team's three eleventh-hour goals during their June 12th World Cup match with Japan, next-morning's newspaper advertisements heralded “Of Course He Ate His Weet-Bix!,” trumpeting Cahill's endorsement of Australia's number one breakfast cereal. Cahill's goals volleyed the Socceroos toward their first World Cup success in only their second finals' appearance in 32 years.
Sadly, Australia's winning trend did not continue in its second match of World Cup competition. In a match against Brazil on June 18, Australia, which had held the 2002 World Cup champions scoreless in the first half, lost that game to Brazil 2-0.
Win or lose, Cahill says he is thrilled to help rebound Australia's soccer reputation and to be the new face of Weet-Bix. A sponsorship deal between the Socceroos and the Seventh-day Adventist owned and operated Australian health food company Sanitarium–which boxes Weet-Bix–ensures the cereal will be the official breakfast of the team, and Cahill, its face, over the next three years.
“I am proud,” Cahill says, “to tell my kids that I am one of the faces in the Weet-Bix advertisements and on over 14 million packs.” But his pride comes from well beyond mere publicity. “I start my day with five Weet-Bix because it provides long-lasting energy and the right nutrients to perform my best,” Cahill adds.
Sanitarium Marketing Manager Rex Sheehy is equally pleased by the sponsorship, and the merits of Weet-Bix. “Australia's largest health food company Sanitarium aims to educate and inspire kids to eat a healthy breakfast like Weet-Bix,” Rex added. “Sponsorships of elite national sporting teams, like the Socceroo's, and individuals, such as Tim Cahill, personify good health and fitness that children aspire to.”
“Tim Cahill and the Socceroos,” Rex continued, “are down-to-earth, outstanding young sportsmen who bring to life a key characteristic of the Weet-Bix brand–that is, Be Your Best.”
Chief Executive Officer of Football Federation Australia (FFA), John O'Neill, also applauds the merits of both the Socceroos and their preferred breakfast. “We are delighted to establish a relationship with one of Australia's great iconic products and health food companies.”
A Weet-Bix advertisement recently shot at the Socceroo's Netherlands training camp made its Australian television debut in May. The sponsorship agreement will see the team through the remainder of the 2006 World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, along with a scramble of international matches over the next three years.
Copyright (c) 2006 by Adventist News Network. web site: news.adventist.org
