In 2003 Mcdonald’s corporation signed Kobe Bryant to a 3 year 10 million dollar contract to sponsor Mcdonald’s.Towards the end of the contract when Kobe Bryant was ACCUSED of sexual assault charges in Colorado. Mcdonald’s refused to renew the contract and immediately severed all promotional advertising with Bryant. Mcdonald’s then released small text at the bottom of the tv screen stating the left guard of the Los Angeles lakers is no longer associated with Mcdonald’s. Kobe Bryant’s name was not even used in the press release! Another unrelated sponsor Nutella a chocolate spread also canceled Bryant’s endorsements. Eventually sexual assault charges were dropped and a settlement was achieved out of court.
Tiger Woods lost over 30 million dollars in sponsorships in 2010 alone! Accused of multiple sexual affairs with other women. Eventually his beautiful wife model Elin Nordgen filed and received a divorce settlement.
More recently Paula Deen a food network celebrity chef has lost over 12 million dollars in sponsorships,marketing opportunities ancillary merchandizing sales! This occurred in less than 3 weeks time! Paula Deen stated a racial slur the word “nigger” in court testimony which was released and discussed by the public at large. Immediately the food network canceled her contract in which Paula was earning a reportedly 20k per episode.Quickly following in rapid succession Walmart, Sears, J.C. Penny,Walgreens, Home Depot,Target, QVR, Smithfield foods,And drugmaker Novo Nordisk canceled Deen’s sponsorships.The multi million dollar national Paula Deen brand quickly lost millions of dollars in brand value,brand equity, and brand integrity in less than 3 weeks time! It did not help Paula’s plight she lied to to the public and the pubic lost trust in the Paula Deen brand. Its called brand integrity!
What do all of these real life examples have in common? The sponsor had become tainted,damaged, no legitimate national corporation will tolerate or can afford to be associated with a negative image affiliated with its product or brand! Negativity can carry over to the product they are endorsing. There is research to validate this strategy. These are real life poignant examples!!
Lets review and take a look at some of the recent latest medical campus financial donations nationwide!
1. A 100 million dollar financial gift to UCLA medical university to cover over 30 full medical scholarships for future medical students.This donation was made by David Geffen to help recruit the top medical students in the nation! UCLA has received over 7,500 medical school applications for these coveted 30+ scholarships! That is approximately 25% of the total student population in the entire colorado university (CU) educational school system! These top notch talented medical students did not even consider the anschutz medical campus for their future medical career! These students completely disregarded and by passed the anschutz medical campus for their secondary medical education.
2. A 100 million dollar financial gift to University of Michigan medical research institute.
3. A 45 million dollar financial gift to the Scripps health campus in San Diego. This was for a cardiovascular center. It is interesting to note that the Anschutz medical campus blog has previously wrote about the Scripps medical center and directly compared it to the Anschutz medical campus in prior blog posts.
4. A 40 million dollar unrestricted gift to build a new hospital in Indianapolis.
5. A 30 million dollar financial gift to children’s hospital in Orange county California.
For more than a decade there has not been one untainted large mega financial donor to the CU Anschutz medical campus. Recently the CU Anschutz medical campus faculty has released public statements that Don Elliman and Lily Marks have brought a sharper focus to sustainable fund raising. Other public statements include the senior CU Anschutz faculty is talented because of superior research and patient care. Colorado University (CU) president Bruce Benson goes on to publicly state financial donors see value in supporting Colorado University and its educational programs. Public press releases continue stating the CU Anschutz medical campus positively impacts the city of aurora, Colorado. Colorado University has been in fund raising mode with their creating futures campaign over the last several years. After years of fund raising it has been recently announced that the CU Anschutz medical campus has attained a new high water mark with fifty four million (54) dollars donated to the CU Anschutz medical campus for the year 2013.
As public tax support continues to diminish for higher education. Individual colleges are now more reliant on private philanthropy to finance their rapidly rising higher education costs. As colleges have been forced to become more creative and competitive in their educational standings, course selection, student activities and affordable tuition fees.
Prior to attending any college of higher education future prospective college students perform a thorough background investigation into any future college before committing to attend and repay a substantial student financial debt. This is especially true with a medical degree as the financial debt burden is substantially higher. The average medical student graduates with over 150k in student financial debt. This effects what career path the graduating student eventually pursues. Corporate and private mega financial donors also perform their own due diligence and background investigation prior to committing to award a large financial commitment as detailed above. No large mega financial sponsor will want be associated with a tainted or damaged service, product, image, this includes a college campus and college education.
As the readership/viewership of the Anschutz medical campus blog has mushroomed far, far exceeding all the views on Colorado university’s Facebook social media page. We are attracting more and more international readers. Our in depth investigative reporting and documentation has become sought after. Here the Anschutz medical campus blog offers insight without the usual accompanying false biased rhetoric.
Now the Anschutz medical campus blog is going to investigate, discuss and publish an international written response to the recent public statements articulated by the CU Anschutz senior faculty, Bruce Benson, don Elliman and lily marks.
First an update on the AEG Anschutz entertainment group Michael Jackson trial. As previously detailed and published on this blog. Philip Anschutz owner of AEG is one of the mega donors to the CU Anschutz medical campus. This is why this 5 billion dollar CU Anschutz medical campus bears the Anschutz moniker.
Currently in the middle of a testy trial which has lasted for months and will continue for many more weeks lawyers from both sides refusing to shake hands and not trusting one another.
Interesting testimony has recently been recorded from an entertainment industry consultant a Mr. Eric Briggs. Mr. Briggs is intimately familiar with the prosecution and the defense. Mr. Briggs was previously consulted prior to the sale of the Michael Jackson(MJ) Beatles catalogue.
However in his recent court testimony in which Mr. Briggs was paid seven hundred thousand dollars(700,000k) for his expert opinion by defendant AEG concerning Michael Jackson. Mr. Briggs stated that Michael Jackson sponsorship opportunities were diminished by over 300 million dollars after negative headlines and articles were released about MJ’s drug abuse and other issues. 300 hundred million dollars the Michael Jackson brand was diminished!
Livestrong is another CU Anschutz medical campus sponsor. After the USADA has ordered 14 years of Armstrong career results erased, including 4 four of Armstrong tour de France victories. Lance Armstrong who did not run the day to day operations, did not receive a salary, stepped down as chairman of Livestrong. This was done to spare Livestrong charity of Armstrong negative doping images. Nike terminated its 10 year relationship with Armstrong
when the preponderance of evidence of doping charges was made public. Despite these events the Birdsong foundation who raised and donated more than 200k to Livestrong wants their money returned! The Birdsong foundation wants their financial gift rescinded!
Now lets discuss the other mega financial donor previously affiliated with the CU Fitzsimons campus. Prior to receiving the Philip Anschutz financial gift.
The financial donor was named Gasper Lazzara who has a 30+ year career in orthodontics. CU released a news story that stated CU has received a 95 million dollar pledge over 30 years for a new orthodontic building, student tuition and program support with a continuous cash flow coming into CU coffers until the year 2034.
The financial donor Mr. Lazzara states the financial gift is less than half that amount, Mr. Lazzara states he only committed to the original 3 million dollar financial gift plus inflation. This discrepancy goes on to state that Mr. Lazzara stated he would financially support students for a national chain of orthodontic clinics.
Eventually with the onset of the recession, Colorado University (CU) and this large mega financial donor partner parted ways to eliminate a potential looming legal conflict.
The CU Anschutz medical campus eventually went on to construct a 13,000 gross sq. ft. 4th floor addition onto the Lazzara center for health and oral surgery. CU garnered an additional 7 million dollars in financial debt, added 5 million dollars in cash and financial gifts to complete the project. This new addition will support additional dental operators and support functions. CU states the cost of an orthodontic education will now rise 40K per student!
With the 6 year George w. Bush recession finally starting to wain Mr. Lazzara recently committed to a multi million dollar financial gift to the Lazzara health science center in the Jacksonville university of North Florida. Including an orthodontic scholarship. Mark Alarbi the dean of the Florida program states that instructors and students can now provide orthodontic services to the public at thirty five (35) percent less than commercial orthodontic services.
The Anschutz medical campus blog will now outline and hypothesize a typical Harvard case study on the Gasper Lazzara mega financial donation fiasco.
With the 125 year history of Colorado university (CU) engaged and in negotiations with a potential large financial mega donor there should have been due diligence, and background checks to protect Colorado University benefactors and stakeholders reputation. This is far more serious than brand steward protection. Where is the detailed written binding legal agreement stating what exactly what the financial donor will provide? Outlining in detail paragraph by paragraph stating the donors current and future obligations? A ninety million dollar (90,000,000) mega gift and there is no detailed corresponding legal agreement? Where exactly was CU Anschutz legal oversight? Absent again. Adversely effecting a public Colorado taxpayer supported university.
What about the future orthodontic students that will be involved with this scholarship? Where is their financial protection by the Colorado University senior faculty, board of regents and CU’S legal oversight team? The future CU student is at risk due to failed Colorado University scholarship oversight.
Where is the legal agreement on the roll out of the national orthodontic chain? What will be the name of the chain? How will the graduating CU Anschutz orthodontic students interact and be employed with the national brand? Will the CU logo consistently appear in the national chain? Disseminating the CU brand nationwide? Will there be a CU hotline providing CU Anschutz course selection educational opportunities for future CU students? Will the working CU Anschutz orthodontic students be brand advocates for the CU Anschutz school system in competing medical college areas of the country? Will the proposed orthodontic chain offer discount services to Medicare, low income and indigent patients? Will the CU Anschutz medical campus be an innovator and offer full medical scholarships and in return the nation receives more qualified medical/dental professionals?
The data is correct. The two largest mega financial sponsors associated with the CU Anschutz medical campus are controversial and problematic. This has negatively effected the CU Anschutz medical campus. There is now financial data court testimony attached to the negative branding associated with the CU Anschutz medical campus benefactor. Three hundred million dollars Michael Jackson defendant AEG testimony is now on record! If Michael Jackson sponsorship opportunities was negatively diminished how much of this amount, or more is carried over to the CU Anschutz medical campus brand with the Anschutz benefactor involved in this trial?
Kobe Bryant was never convicted. McDonald 10 million dollar sponsorship was canceled. Review how quickly all of Paula’s Dean’s sponsor’s abandoned her after just one negative word was stated!
Therefore the CU Anschutz medical campus senior faculty namely CU president Bruce Benson, Lily Marks, and Don Elliman were knowingly involved, associated, familiar with the financial donor selection, review and final discussions of mega donors Philip Anschutz, Livestrong, and J.P. Morgan. These are persistent continuous negative brand associations with the CU Anschutz medical campus. The current incompetent senior faculty decisions have negatively effected every CU Anschutz medical campus student perception, and student enrollment! Consistency in brand management is the number one facet of brand steward management accounting for over 35% of the brands intangible value! This has been eliminated under the current CU senior faculty. The current senior CU faculty has failed to leverage every single brand asset available to them, in their toolbox! Once again Failure of CU Anschutz leadership. Additionally these senior faculty members decisions have negatively adversely effected the surrounding Denver/Aurora taxpayer community and potentially the entire nation as hypothesized and outlined in the Harvard case study outlined above!
These are just a few of the many reasons why the CU Anschutz medical campus has alienated potential future financial donors!
let’s move on from the senior faculty alienating the financial donors and discuss the possible intangible negative impacts effecting CU Anschutz medical campus transplant patients.
The nation at large is well aware of Michael Jackson’s accident on the Pepsi commercial resulting in the fire on MJ’s head and resulting in MJ having to wear a wig over the last 20 years. Michael Jackson also has a skin disease named vitiligo. These are two well known MJ health related issues the entire nation is aware of.
The Anschutz medical campus blog hypothesizes that the AEG Michael Jackson trial will negatively effect future available human organ transplant donors and operations performed on the CU Anschutz campus. While human body organs in the united states cannot be sold for monetary profit. Internationally medical vacations have been steadily rising for the last decade. The high cost of kidney, Liver and pancreas transplants can be cut by more than 60% in foreign hospitals. Foreign countries such as Costa Rica, Thailand, Malaysia, Bolivia and many others have put out the welcome mat with world class medical procedures, five star care, international ratings, Thorough hospital background investigations, low costs, and even numerous American insurance companies paying for the surgery. Future transplant patients have many options available for their major transplant operations.
A permanent negative halo, tarnished CU Anschutz brand, controversial donors, Incompetent senior faculty management, negative patient experience, help facilitate future CU Anschutz medical students, financial donors and patients to look else where where they can have a more positive life changing experience.
The CU Anschutz medical campus brand mismanagement by senior faculty members has a local community, national and international negative effect. When the world loved Michael Jackson and AEG is accused of his death many future patents will have second thoughts before committing to a surgery that casts a memorable negative image nationwide. Its a known fact go back and read the beginning of this article! In addition as the MJ AEG trial lingers on with more facts now emerging how many human organ donors have cancelled their human organ donation over the last 3 years?
According to us news report for the year 2014 the top medical research schools in the nation are Harvard, Stanford, John Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University, Yale ,Columbia and Duke. The University of Colorado ranks number 35 as a research medical school.
Add in the lack of medical scholarships, drop in national institute of health (NIH) research grants/funding, alienated financial donors, tainted financial donor associations, incompetent senior CU management, failed CU sports/football program. An Aurora light rail that has been mismanaged, poorly planned with disabled veterans having to walk or take another bus to reach their final CU VA hospital destination, a VA hospital that is garnering national attention and already 400 million dollars and escalating over budget. It all adds up and the bottom line is….clearly visible to students, financial donors, researchers and medical patients. The CU Anschutz medical campus will never be a world class facility! Attracting less affluent average students, small financial donors, average medical research personnel And medical patients that have fewer options and will have to accept less than competent medical care. Mediocrity is the very best the city of Aurora, Colorado can hope for. As this once promising diamond in the rough has now turned into a lump of burning coal! Aurora Colorado home of the CU Anschutz medical campus will always be remembered as the medical campus that failed to properly diagnose James Holmes who went on to kill 12 individuals and wounding 70 innocent victims!
Disclaimer: The Anschutz medical campus blog is not associated or affiliated with AEG, CU Anschutz medical campus, Colorado University, CU, Children Hospital
