Thursday, August 09, 2007 So: Pacquiao and good image By Michelle P. So Caught in the Net
WHAT makes a good image? Decorum in public, philanthropic endeavors, sports feats? Do trips to casinos and cockpits blot a boxing great’s achievements?
Manny Pacquiao needs to keep his image clean lest he breaches his endorsement contract with Nike. His lawyer, Franklin Gacal, finds a Manila Bulletin article describing Pacquiao as a “compulsive gambler” damaging to the image of the Pinoy boxing hero.
Sun.Star General Santos reported that Pacquiao, finding the description libelous, has sued the national daily for P30 million. The article, which appeared in Bulletin’s July 25 issue, has put Pacquiao’s endorsement deal at risk, Gacal reportedly said. He did not disclose the terms of the contract, which Pacman signed with Nike last year, other than for Pacquiao to maintain a “good image.”
Pacquiao wagers in casinos, on cockfighting and billiards but he is not a compulsive gambler, Gacal said. Compulsion speaks of a behavior or act independent of one’s free will, he said. He likened it to addiction, which he said Pacquiao doesn’t have for gambling.
What Pacquiao does with his money is not our concern. The man is generous, giving money and granting favors to almost anyone who comes to him. He can be extravagant, buying luxury cars one after the other. He can use his money to go to court and protect his name and image. It’s his P30 million and not the taxpayers’.
So what is Pacman’s good image? A boxing hero. A believable and saleable product endorser. A dutiful son. A good family provider. A charming man who can find humor in his inadequacies. There are many good things about Pacquiao that the public sees and doesn’t.
And his bad image? He gambles. He’s hot-tempered. He’s a failed politician. There are many undesirable things about Pacquiao that the public has seen and has not.
Last May, a column about Pacquiao and his attempt at politics revealed some things about the boxing great that not many people knew about. The Pacquiao that we read about is not always the same Pacquiao that people in his home province interact with. That he gambles is true but the extent of his gambling is only known to those who follow him closely.
“The moment he will have a bad image is considered a violation of the contract,” his lawyer Gacal said in a television interview that Sun.Star General Santos used as basis for its report.
Every athlete has his folly and Nike, the sports apparel company that has every kind of athlete endorsing its products, knows this. Michael Jordan, for all his greatness, was hounded by reports of his gambling losses.
Pacquiao endorses a lot of products—beer, ice cream, noodles, medicine, shoes, socks, toothpaste, just about every edible or useable thing Filipinos need or want. We don’t know the terms of his endorsement contracts but we know that these came after he showed his prowess as a world boxing champion and the public began to want to see more of him.
When he ran for congressman in his hometown in the May 2007 elections and lost, the endorsements did not stop. He is a media darling. His is easily the most recognizable face in the Filipino sports world.
He is now at the height of his popularity, so how does he keep a good image, or should it be, how can he keep one? It’s for him to find an answer to this and he can’t find it in the casinos or cockpits.
