DerfMagazine.com cancels sponsorship of 2004 Olympic Games.

Shock waves rippled throughout the advertising industry this week when DerfMagazine.com announced it has withdrawn it's $4.2 million advertising commitment to the Olympic Games. Derf executives stated the company is making a strategic shift away from athletic/health oriented marketing opting instead to toward the drinking and partying demographic. Derf also announced it cancelled plans to sponsor the 2005 Superbowl in January and the NCAA men's Basketball tournament next March.

Derf CEO, Taylor Bainbridge-Waltham said, "To ease some of the local concerns, we have no plans at this time to cancel our sponsorship of the Colerain Seafood Festival. Also, we plan to spend tens of dollars placing small advertisements on urinals in local bars." This shift toward a grass roots urinal sponsorship program is seen by industry experts as a brilliant strategic move. Although urinal sponsorship has not typically attracted big name sponsors, DerfMagazine.com expects to change this stigma by bringing urinals to the forefront in creating corporate brand identity. Bainbridge-Waltham added, "This is an excellent fit because many of our readers have compared reading Derf to using a urinal."