Thursday’s New York Times profiled two messy and complex marketing cases that remind us how quickly things can change and how dangerous relying on any one revenue-stream or person can be:

1. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Manny Ramirez

The Dodgers entire marketing and merchandising campaign was centered around their best player, Manny Ramirez – whom they just signed to a two-year, $45m contract. On Thursday, Manny was suspended for violating MLB’s steroid policy and will miss 50 games… not only paralyzing the Dodger’s offense, but crushing the organization’s marketing campaigns.

2. Mexico, Tourism and the Swine Flu

“It will take a long time for would-be vacationers to forget those images, but the Mexican government is trying to help them, with a multimillion-dollar campaign to restore Mexico’s brand, as hotels cut rates 50 to 70 percent….

When Mexican officials announced almost $2.1 billion in tax breaks and loans to help the Mexican economy recover from the residual effects of the flu, the tourism industry received special attention — loans for hotels and airlines, cuts in airport and port fees, and tax write-offs for businesses — worth, all told, $450 million. The reason is clear. Foreign tourism earned Mexico $13.3 billion last year. Tourism employs more than two million people and accounts for about 8 percent of the economy.”

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