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Pele Is Subway's Latest 'Famous Fan'

Subway has announced that international soccer legend Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) is the QSR brand's latest "Famous Fan."

Under the multi-year, "global ambassador" agreement, Pelé will be featured in a number of advertising and in-restaurant promotional campaigns in the U.S. and other markets. He joins a roster of Famous Fan athletes that includes Michael Phelps, Apolo Ohno, Nastia Liukin, Ryan Howard and Justin Tuck.

For competitive reasons, Subway isn't yet revealing many specifics about the marketing plans for Pelé. 

However, Subway Global CMO Tony Pace tells Marketing Daily that Pelé is likely to appear in both separate, unique campaigns and global campaigns that feature similar creative across multiple markets. (For example, Subway has been running an "I've Got it Made" campaign featuring various Famous Fan athletes in a number of global markets for about a year now, he notes.)

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Pace also reports that the first creative featuring Pelé will debut before the end of 2013 -- and that at some (unspecified) point, Subway will tie in Pelé's famous #10 with an offer (a two $5 Footlongs offer, for instance).

Obviously, Pelé will also be an asset in Subway's highly successful social media marketing strategy -- which last year earned the brand the #1 ranking in Vivaldi Partners' engagement-driven "social currency" rankings.  

Pelé is a true longtime Subway fan, and bringing him into the official Famous Fans fold is a coup for the brand for multiple reasons, says Pace. 

“Fútbol is the global sport and Pelé is the pre-eminent player of all time,” and he is one of a very small number of people whose name is instantly recognized throughout the world, Pace points out. In addition, Pelé is "all about living a healthy, active lifestyle and encouraging others to do the same," and has "a level of humility and a human touch" that have powerful, virtually universal appeal, Pace says.

Pelé is the only soccer player ever to have won three World Cups, and is considered the sport's all-time-high goal scorer (1,283 goals). His titles also include Football Player of the Century and Athlete of the Century. 

Subway's 39,700-plus locations in some 102 countries include more than 1,000 in Pelé's native Brazil -- where he is, of course, a national hero. 

Brazil is to host 2014's World Cup tournament, which would seem a guaranteed bonanza for any brand associated with the country's soccer legends. (Although The New York Times recently reported that even Pelé and another Brazilian soccer icon, Ronaldo, have come under criticism amid the huge protests over public services and government corruption that began sweeping the country in June, with some even calling for a boycott of the Cup tournament and the 2016 Summer Olympics, also scheduled to be held in Brazil.)

Pelé also has endorsement deals with Procter & Gamble and Volkswagen, reports Forbes.

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