Car brands that loved Pele
Honda·Volkswagen·Benz·BMW attract attention
| A photo of a Honda car advertisement featuring Pele. [Etsy 경매 페이지 갈무리] |
[헤럴드경제=김성우 기자] “Soccer Emperor Pele (35, real name Edsong Aranchis Dunacimentou) signed a 3-year, 135 million yen contract with Japanese car maker Honda (approximately 229.5 million won in Korean currency at the time).” (Newspaper article from 1976)
Winter of 1976. It was the offseason of the American Soccer League. After leaving Santos FC, where he had been with for 14 years, he transferred to the American team New York Cosmos and spent a year there, signing an contract with the Japanese car brand Honda. 45 million yen per year on an annual basis. At the time, it was the highest amount for an individual contract for a sports star.
The industry started to stir. Previously, the highest amount for a sports star was 20 million yen, set by genius golf star Johnny Miller and figure skating queen Janet Gerhauser, and 30 million yen a year by boxer Muhammad Ali. Through this contract, Pele took on models for Honda motorcycles and Honda cars.
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| Pele appeared as a model for a Honda motorcycle advertisement. [quique maqueda 핀더레스트 페이지] |
The recently passed away ‘Black Pearl’ Pele is the greatest soccer star ever, having won three World Cup titles. He is known to the world as a ‘car maniac’. Numerous ‘love horses’ have emerged as the subject of a new topic. In other words, many finished car brands have used Pele to implement various marketing strategies.
South American soccer stars became a great publicity tool for carmakers at the time when they were pioneering new markets. Pele’s cars, which are now publicly known, are said to have been delivered by finished car companies or local importers. It shows the calculation to get on the back of Pele, a sports star and car enthusiast.
Honda, which signed an contract with Pele, is a representative example. Honda, which started as a motorcycle brand, released the turbo T360 and sports car S500 in 1963. The Honda Civic was introduced in 1972. In the finished car industry, it was close to a latecomer. However, the level of technology was the highest enough to develop an eco-friendly engine (CVCC engine) ahead of time.
At Honda, Pele was the best promotional model. He was the greatest player in football history and a symbol of challenge. Pele held the unprecedented record of being the youngest World Cup scorer, youngest hat-trick, and three World Cup winners. In order to pioneer a new football market, he left Santos FC, a Brazilian team, and moved to New York Cosmos in New York, USA, which was a ‘football wasteland’, and was seen as a ‘challenging spirit’.
Honda chose Pele as the model for the CG125, which was launched in South America at the time. In 1976, an additional large contract was signed. All vehicles and motorcycles produced by Honda were promoted through Pele. You can find commercials featuring Pele to this day. Thanks to this, the CG125 left its name as the best-selling motorcycle in Brazil.
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| Brazilian superstar Pele stands in front of his first car. [Autojosh.com 갈무리] |
Pele’s first car was the Volkswagen ‘Pusca’ (Beetle’s sales name in Central and South America). It is said that Walter Herbert, a German who fell in love with Pele, gifted the car to Pele. There is a rumor that when Pele won the first World Cup, Faro Malupu, who was the mayor of Sao Paulo, provided it to the Brazilian squad.
Pele showed such a special affection that he kept his first car in his garage for decades. According to local media in Brazil, this Beetle was put on the local auction market in October of last year at a price of regarding 500,000 dollars (regarding 700 million won). Local media reported that “Pele put the car up for sale to raise funds for treatment of colon cancer.”
Perhaps knowing Pele’s love for Volkswagen, Volkswagen, which has sponsored the Brazilian national team since 2009, appointed Pele as its official ambassador in 2013. Pele served as a model representing Volkswagen at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Pele’s second car was a BMW Isetta. Likewise, I received a BMW as a gift from an importer who was importing it from Brazil. American automaker Aero Willys (later American Motor Corporation, disbanded in 1988) also presented Pele with an Air Willys 2600, which was being produced in Brazil.
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| Brazilian superstar Pele’s car. [Autojosh.com 갈무리] |
Mercedes-Benz gave Pele a new car as a gift whenever there was a special sporting event. When Pele scored his 1000th goal in 1969 when he was a member of Santos FC, Mercedes-Benz presented Pele with a 250 W114. As the World Cup in Germany approached, Mercedes-Benz changed the car to the 280 SE W108 model. Pele appeared in a Mercedes-Benz at a public event. Mercedes-Benz was regarded as a symbol of Pele. Pele sold the vehicle shortly therefollowing. Mercedes-Benz then bought the car back in 2004 and presented it to Pele. It is said that at the time, Pele’s 280S vehicle had already changed hands 18 times.
Promotion using sports stars of finished car makers or importers is still the same. The same goes for the Maserati Levante driven by Son Heung-min. It is also known that this was provided by the importer. The Levante is a semi-large SUV with a length of over 5m. Depending on the displacement, it has a price range of 120 million won to 240 million won. Speed and skill are what soccer and cars have in common. It can be seen that the intersection of the two fields that any man loves is accumulating marketing history.
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| Brazilian superstar Pele’s car. [Autojosh.com 갈무리] |
