Sports Sponsorships

PARIS — L'Oréal Paris has named Aimee Mullins, athlete, fashion model and actress, as its newest global ambassador.

She joins the L'Oréal Paris family of spokeswomen, which includes Milla Jovovich, Beyonce Knowles, Diane Keaton, Diane Kruger, Evangeline Lilly, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lopez, Andie MacDowell, Julianna Marguiles, Freida Pinto, Gwen Stefani and Kerry Washington.

CINCINNATI — Kroger said it is kicking off a year-long initiative to raise funds for armed forces members in partnership with the USO, the leading organization for morale-boosting programs and services for American troops and their families.

Kroger said the campaign will include in-store and online promotions and a text-to-give campaign that encourages Kroger customers to text "USO" to 27722 during the race to donate $10 to USO programs.

NEW YORK — The National Basketball Association, the Women's National Basketball Association and the NBA Development League are at the forefront of a new campaign that seeks to raise awareness about diabetes prevention.

TAMPA, Fla. — The Daytona 500 is taking place this weekend, Sunday at 1 p.m. on Fox, and it kicks off the NASCAR season, which extends through November.

Here at a Tampa Walgreens, the store gets in a racing mood with a display from NASCAR sponsor Coca-Cola. 

SAN ANTONIO — Super Bowl viewers got a surprise while watching the Big Game on Sunday: A commercial featuring an exclusive song about retailer H-E-B, performed by country star Jack Ingram.

The Texas-based retailer let Super Bowl watchers know that, "You Can't Spell Texas without H-E-B." The commercial featured dancers in stetsons and images of all things Texas, with country crooner Ingram celebrating the Lone Star state, mentioning cities both big and small, and showing that H-E-B is as big as the state's pride.

CINCINNATI — NFL commentator John Madden and the Prilosec OTC team on Thursday awarded the New England Patriots’ offensive line the 2010 Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award, presented by Prilosec OTC.

PLANO, Texas — Orange soda brand Sunkist has teamed up with sports broadcasting legend Dick Vitale to offer consumers a chance to win 1-of-8 $10,000 weekly cash prizes.

Through March 31, Sunkist fans can enter the Sunkist Catchphrase that Pays contest, in which consumers can submit their best ideas for Vitale's new catchphrase online at SunkistSoda.com.

NEW YORK — Chauncey Billups, point guard for the NBA's Denver Nuggets team, was named the latest spokesman for a national multimedia campaign designed to educate preteens, teens and their parents about the importance of vaccination against serious, potentially life-threatening diseases.

As the latest spokesman for Vaccine for Teens, Billups will be featured in a new public service announcement, which will air on NBA media and network/cable game broadcasts.