Ryan Lochte seems like he would be radioactive to sponsors right now, doesn’t he? After the scandal that rocked his world at the Rio Olympics last week, Speedo, Ralph Lauren, and several other sponsors cut ties with Lochte, and it looked like lying to Rio police about what really took place during his alleged "robbery" at a gas station was going to cost him a lot of money. But over the course of the last 24 hours, Lochte has actually received two pieces of good news.
On Wednesday, Lochte reportedly found out that he’s going to take part in the 23rd season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. ABC hasn’t made an official announcement about it yet, but USA Today spoke with a source who confirmed that the two sides are hammering out a deal that will see Lochte showing off his dance moves in front of the entire nation. And while you might be able to look past that since it’s clear ABC is making every effort to maximize their ratings this DWTS season (they've also invited Amber Rose for Season 23), Lochte got more good news on Thursday in the form of a new endorsement deal he just signed.
That’s right. Lochte—the guy who got dragged by everyone (including Al Roker) over the course of the last week for being a liar and who seems like the last dude you would want endorsing your product at the moment—is now officially being sponsored by Pine Brothers, a throat lozenge company:
Okay, okay, so that endorsement isn’t exactly going to cover the losses Lochte will experience when those Speedo checks stop coming in, but still…How does he of all people deserve a new endorsement deal?
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He doesn’t, but it sounds like Pine Brothers already has a whole campaign built for him. It’s going to be designed around the slogan "Forgiving On Your Throat" and, as you would imagine, it will center on forgiveness, which is something Lochte is going to be asking for—a lot—in the coming months.
"We all make mistakes, but they’re rarely given front-page scrutiny," Pine Brothers CEO Rider McDowell said while announcing Lochte's new deal. "He’s a great guy who has done incredible work with charities. I’m confident that Pine Bros. fans will support our decision to give Ryan a second chance."
The campaign will feature print ads and a commercial. At this point we shouldn't be surprised about anything that has to do with Lochte, but who saw this coming?
