In their ongoing partnership, Lysol® and legendary baseball player and celebrity, Alex Rodriguez highlight the intersection of professional sports, personal milestones, and the often-overlooked efforts of sports staff. Last year's campaign highlighted equipment managers, while this year's focus is in celebrating the effort that referees and umpires put forth in the game.
"It's kind of cool to team up with Lysol®," shared Alex enthusiastically as we spoke. "I've played every summer since I was 7 years old in Miami, and it's interesting to be able to work with a product that you use organically."
This season, Lysol® is spotlighting its Lysol® Laundry Sanitizer. Just like players, referees and umpires aren't immune to sweating it out – and on top of that, the pressure from fans can be tough. Lysol isn't saying that referees stink, of course. They're just promoting how the laundry room can turn a tough day around with LysolStrikeOutStink.com.
“For both players and referees, sweating is inevitable – but what many people don’t realize is that bacteria can be source of stink in laundry,” said Callum Couser, R&D Operations Manager North America, Hygiene at Reckitt in the recent press release.
Touting last year's campaign, "From sweaty jerseys to smelly socks, Lysol Laundry Sanitizer is my MVP," shared Karla Martinez, FIU’s Football Student Equipment Manager. "It kills 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria in dirty laundry when used as directed with detergent, keeping our uniforms fresh and ready for the field."
“Referees and umpires are an irreplaceable part of baseball, and their role extends way beyond the nine innings of a game,” shared Rodriguez. "I’m teaming up with Lysol to show appreciation for the work officials do on and off the field, from youth sports to the major leagues, and help make one part of their job easier–tackling post-game stink in laundry with Lysol® Laundry Sanitizer.”
He shared a similar enthusiasm with last year's campaign for equipment managers. "When Lysol approached me about the opportunity to team up to highlight equipment managers all over the world, I was really excited, because I know that for 25 years that I played professional baseball, they didn't get their due," he shared. "They're the unsung heroes of every team. They do all the dirty work for the team, no pun intended. It's a thankless job, it's an egoless job... and they basically have to babysit for a team of major league baseball players for the whole baseball season. I did it for the day, and you don't realize how hard it is."
Developing Routines to Instill Lifelong Healthy Habits
Alex knows firsthand the importance of encouraging healthy habits and independence among his daughters, one of whom just completed her first year of college.
"I don't know if I'm equipped to give anyone parenting advice," he joked, "but being able to spend time with my daughters is something I value tremendously. Earlier this year, my daughter, who's a freshman, called me from college and was homesick. She asked me to come have dinner with her, so of course I did. We started at Whole Foods [to buy groceries], and then she had me helping her with her laundry routine in the laundry room, and then eventually we did make it to dinner. It's kind of fun seeing your daughters develop in college. It's one of a kind."
