Where Are All the Beauty Sponsors for the Rio Olympics?

Gillette Venus Swirl is teaming up with Olympic all-around gold medalist Gabby Douglas this summer, to celebrate how, as an accredited female gymnast, she “moves like no other.” (Photo: Business Wire)

Beauty brands have a long history of partnering with female athletes in the spotlight, touting everything from lipstick to shampoo to face cream. But if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve likely observed that there are noticeably fewer sponsored athletes at the 2016 Rio Olympics — a trend that is reflected in beauty brands and all other sponsors in general.

“I think today’s Olympic athletes are being hurt by other Olympians who have lost endorsement deals over their off-the-field behavior — namely, Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps,” says Bob Williams, the CEO of Burns Entertainment and Sports, a firm that matches advertisers with celebrities for endorsements.

Armstrong is currently in a legal nightmare with the U.S. Postal Service, which is suing to get back money invested in him before his very public doping scandal, which led to a strip-down of titles and medals. “It’s truly a first and could set a precedent,” says Williams of the lawsuit. Usually, when an athlete’s behavior puts a brand in jeopardy, ads are immediately halted and a quiet fade-out ensues. Not this time.

“Advertisers are watching the USPS case closely — depending on how it turns out, [the ability to sue] may be something they add to damage-control options in future contracts,” says Williams. He adds that moral clauses now allow brands to gracefully exit if a celebrity brings unexpected trouble, with terms that have eased considerably within the past five to 10 years.

As it is, Olympians are a high-risk endorsement. Their viability peaks in the small window of time leading up to the competition, during the Games and right after the Olympics end, unlike a traditional celebrity deal that has one or two years of high visibility. “You’re trying to catch lightning in a bottle — it’s difficult enough to pick athletes who fit your brand and campaign, and then you have to take a chance on them coming through and winning the gold medal,” says Williams.

Procter & Gamble has been the biggest beauty player to take that chance in recent history, blanketing the 2008 and 2012 women’s gymnastics team with ads for a slew of its most popular brands, including CoverGirl, Olay, Secret and Pantene — and highlighting Gabby Douglas in particular across all platforms at the last Summer Olympics, in 2012, when she magically went on to capture the gold.

This time, P&G featured just one brand with a gymnast, and Douglas is that golden girl. While fellow competitor Simone Biles may be giving her a run for her money on the mat, Biles doesn’t yet have the name and face recognition that still makes Douglas the most coveted endorsement prize. The one-brand partnership between Douglas and Gillette Venus Swirl pairs her with its latest marketing innovation. The razor operates with a multidimensional “Flexiball” to help get around tricky areas like the knees and ankles, and the “Moves Like No Other” campaign with Douglas is intended to emphasize her own legendary ability to, well, move like no other.

Meanwhile, P&G’s Aussie hair care brand has partnered with women’s volleyball players April Ross and Jennifer Kessy as a way to illustrate its marketing message that on-the-go women can use the products for great hair that fits into an active lifestyle — including high-performance Olympians.

Other athletes have picked up smaller-scale partnerships reflective of how influential social media has become. These deals pair elements like an athlete’s Instagram posts with products that tackle skin and makeup issues related to perspiration. American gymnast Aly Raisman is one such example, as brand ambassador for Revision Skincare, which she touts for keeping her skin clear in spite of sweaty, intense training sessions six days a week. Track and fielder Natasha Hastings is a brand ambassador for Sweat Cosmetics, a line of natural oil-free mineral foundation with SPF protection that claims to last through drenching workouts.

Female gymnasts remain the top endorsement candidates at the Summer Olympics, since they’re an ad model that is most proven to work in this context, says Williams. (Swimming and track and field round out the most coveted sports.) “Brands love to associate their products with overall winners, and we’ve seen female gymnasts like Mary Lou Retton and Kerri Strug win and maintain positive images through long periods of time, so advertisers tend to be more comfortable with female gymnasts — there’s just less of a risk of them behaving badly or getting arrested, like with an NFL player,” says Williams.

On the male side, P&G is again promoting razors. Its Gillette brand debuted a “Perfect Isn’t Pretty” campaign with USA decathlon star Ashton Eaton, Brazilian soccer player Neymar Jr., Chinese freestyle swimmer Ning Zetao, and U.K. cycler Andrew Tennant. The short film takes viewers on the journey of these Olympians — from injuries and aches to ensuing relationship drama when dedication comes at an expense. The aim is to show that the “thrill of victory” has no shortcuts — and neither did the precision that went into the razor design.

The overall decrease in endorsements may also have to do with the fact that consumers tend to be swayed less by mere celebrity these days than by a personal connection to individuals — who they are, what their beliefs are, and how they live, says Dave Wakeman, the principal of Wakeman Consulting Group, who advises sports brands and teams on revenue generation. As such, brands are investing in more targeted partnerships, like those with social media influencers.

Another contributing factor is the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 40, which allows athletes, coaches/trainers, and officials participating in the Olympics to appear in generic advertising or promote nonofficial sponsors on social media provided that it doesn’t mention the Rio Games outright or contain Olympic intellectual property. Advertising that doesn’t adhere to these guidelines during the blackout period could result in athletes losing their medals.

And last, gymnasts are in competition with the endorsement jewels of the Winter Olympics — figure skaters — who, experts say, will predictably pull more beauty advertisers. Now that the Summer and Winter Olympics are just two years apart, beauty brands tend to allocate more sponsorship dollars for the ice queens.

“The entire culture of figure skating centers around aesthetics. Skaters use music, choreography, costumes, makeup, hair, and jewelry to tell a story on ice — the potential for sponsorships is so obvious, and it makes more sense for a top skater like Ashley Wagner, Gracie Gold, or Meryl Davis to enter the beauty and fashion world,” says Dave Lease, co-founder of The Skating Lesson, a figure skating blog that covers gymnastics in the off-season. While gymnasts also use music, they wear the same leotards at competitions and there is less emphasis on individuality and creativity in appearance, adds Lease.

So who’s the one to watch at these games? While Douglas commands the most stardom going in, it’s Biles who will be the name on everyone’s lips by the end, predicts Lease.

“I believe Simone Biles has the crossover potential of Dorothy Hamill and Mary Lou Retton. Her unique athletic ability combined with her vivacious personality are a dream — she could sell ice to an Eskimo, given her smile, talent, and charisma,” says Lease. “Once the public actually sees Simone and what she is capable of, [her sponsorships] will surely grow if she performs up to expectations.”

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