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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Coke Fights Back, Takes Fizz From Pepsi Deal

From Wire Reports

Coca-Cola fought back at Pepsi’s deal with the Dallas Cowboys by signing Troy Aikman on Friday to a multi-year promotion deal that will remind people which is the team’s “official soft drink.”

Pepsi is the only brand available at Cowboys games because team owner Jerry Jones last week signed a 10-year, $40 million deal making it the official drink of Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys play.

Coke has a contract with the NFL giving it exclusive marketing and promotional rights. Jones’ deal circumvents the league contract and allows Pepsi into Texas Stadium, which he owns.

But Pepsi can’t do anything else with the Cowboys. Coke can, and is going to take advantage of that fact by using the Cowboys in several advertising campaigns and maybe even a new can featuring Aikman.

“We’re going to be cutting a TV spot this weekend,” said Guy Thomas, Coke’s vice-president and general manager for North Texas. “It’s a special commercial developed for the Dallas Cowboys and Troy.”

Thomas promised that more announcements will come, including something to do with another player. Coke already has a local agreement with Emmitt Smith.

Thomas said the Aikman deal had been in the works for months, but he admitted the plans were moved up in the wake of the Pepsi announcement. Coke has sponsored Aikman’s charity golf tournament for four years.

Thomas tried brushing off Pepsi’s new relationship with the Cowboys by saying his company turned down a similar but less-expensive offer from Jones.

He also fired back at his rival drink company by saying, “There’s a lot of talk about cola wars, but in this marketplace, Pepsi is really No. 3 or 4.”

Kotite, Cunningham silent

This is the waste of a perfectly good grudge.

The Eagles play the Jets tonight, in a game that doesn’t count and, really, doesn’t matter all that much. The real attraction is Richie and Randall, Kotite and Cunningham, coach and quarterback, wedded for five increasingly bickering years in Philadelphia, messily divorced last January.

The two franchises are an easy 90-minute drive apart, yet inconveniently enough the game will be played in Mississippi.

True, the Eagles against the Jets has never been exactly a seismic billing. But there is a tang to this one.

Will Kotite, a la Buddy Ryan, offer a bounty on Cunningham? Will Cunningham beg coach Ray Rhodes for the chance to play the whole game and pour it on, zing half-a-dozen touchdown passes and then do the Deion-taunt past the Jets sideline?

No, and no.

Bounties aren’t Kotite’s style, and Rhodes will keep Cunningham on a short tether. Both downplayed tonight’s matchup.

Around the league

The Falcons signed a two-year deal with seven-year veteran offensive lineman Dave Richards, who started 15 games for Atlanta. … The Oilers and holdout safety Blaine Bishop have agreed to terms, working out an incentives package to accompany Bishop’s $178,000 salary. … Unable to narrow their differences on a signing bonus, the Steelers and safety Darren Perry have broken off talks on a long-term contract.