October 22, 2007

Since Sidney Crosby has been in the NHL for three years, McDonald’s Hockey Cards have only included one card of him during his rookie season. McDonald’s hockey cards have left Sidney Crosby out of the last two years sets completely.

While including Sidney Crosby would be a great marketing strategy for McDonald’s, they have failed to place him in their hockey card sets.

The reason Crosby is not included in the hockey cards may be related to endorsement deals. The Sports Collector Blog reported on this subject last year. In summary, they point out that Sidney Crosby is not a spokesperson for McDonald’s. Neither are most, if not all, of the other players depicted on the McDonald’s hockey cards. There is no need to be a spokesperson to be on the hockey cards. However, Crosby may be in talks with a restaurant or have people around him advising him to not include himself in the hockey card set. This could be in case a restaurant tries to sign him as a spokesperson in the future. This respects the wishes of any competing restaurants. You can read the post by The Sports Collector here.

Another possible reason Sidney Crosby is not depicted on the McDonald’s hockey cards could have to do with him only endorsing products he believes in. Fast food is definitely not what top performing pro athletes eat. Keith McArthur of The Globe and Mail (Report on Business) examined Crosby and his endorsements on April 17, 2006. In this article he writes, “Also, why would any pro athlete, who needs to be in peak performance, endorse a fast food company like McDonald’s? Does Sidney eat Big Macs? Not in this lifetime.” (more of this article can be found on The Sidney Crosby Show Blog here.

This could be a reason why Crosby has opted out of the McDonald’s hockey cards but I have some doubt. After all Crosby is endorsing Lays potatoes chips and Pepsi Cola, which are not on most pro athlete’s diets either.

If I had to guess the real reason whey Sidney Crosby is not involved with McDonald’s at this time, I would believe it has to do with him looking for an endorsement deal with a restaurant. By keeping his name away from restaurants he is not currently a spokesperson for, he will be able to command a higher contract with one if he does sign a deal. After all he could argue he is exclusive only to them and they will be the first restaurant to be associated with him (as long as they overlook his McDonald’s hockey rookie card).

Of course the McDonald's hockey cards are produced by Upper Deck and Sidney Crosby is a spokesperson for them. Perhaps this is why he agreed to appear only on the one McDonalds hockey card during his rookie season.

Late Edit October 23,2007.

A final thought as pointed out by Pens Blog could have to do with Crosby having a deal with Tim Hortons. The blog post states: "Personally, I don't think he's being kicked to the wayside, but instead looked past because of his affiliation with Tim Horton's. "

To read some interesting comments on this article and reasons to love or hate Sidney Crosby visit my hockey card blog over at Hockey Buzz.

2007-08 McDonald's Hockey Cards
RELEASE DATE
November 20, 2007.