Companies that counted on Phelps succeeding made out swimmingly

Advertisers who gambled on swimmer Michael Phelps came up winners in the ongoing effort to pick an Olympic champion even before the Games' ceremonial torch is lit.

Speedo, Visa, Omega, Rosetta Stone, PowerBar, AT&T, Kellogg's, Hilton, PureSport, and SwimRoom.com are all marketers that were aligned with Phelps before his eight Olympic victories, according to Octagon, the sports and entertainment marketing arm of Interpublic Group of Cos. that represents the athlete.

Much of this sort of success is pure luck. After all, who could have known that Phelps would break records? Even so, companies that bet on the swimmer "turn out to be winners, although he's no bargain, because he was already considered the best in the world," said Thomas Boyd, professor of sports marketing at California State University, Fullerton. "Chances are good that if he'd done only slightly worse, they might not really be getting their money's worth because I'm sure they were cutting deals based on [his] potential."

One Phelps marketing alliance is already raising eyebrows.

Kellogg's said Tuesday the swimmer would appear on the front of special boxes of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes cereals The packages are slated to appear on US grocery store shelves in mid-September.

BRIAN STEINBERG