A marketing expert said there is a fine line between celebrating an Olympic athlete's success and using freebies as a convenient marketing tool.
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After making history as the first Filipino man to win a gold at the Olympics, gymnast Carlos Yulo left the Paris Olympics with more than victory.
The 24-year-old placed first in the men's floor and vault artistic gymnastic events. Then, gifts and freebies started pouring in.
Filipino real-estate company Megaworld offers each Filipino gold medalist a fully furnished two-bedroom property worth around $415,000 at McKinley Hill in Taguig, a coastal city in Manila.
According to Megaworld's press release, the development is home to several athletes from the country's previous national teams. It also sits less than two miles from Shangri-La The Fort, a five-star hotel. "This makes it a perfect home for Filipino champions who live a life of passion and excellence through and through," the press release states.
When Yulo won a second gold medal, Megaworld upgraded his reward to a three-bedroom unit valued at 35 million Philippine pesos, or around $605,000.
Local brands have also celebrated Yulo's historic win by showering him with freebies.
Hagemu Sushi and Ramen Bar, a Japanese restaurant, offered Yulo a free lifetime supply of ramen. "Your dedication and hard work inspire us all, and we are grateful for your contributions to our nation's success," the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post.
A gastroenterologist even offered his services and endoscopic procedures for free — but only after he turns 45.
"CONGRATS CALOY for inspiring us to be the best version of ourselves!" Dr Virgil Lo wrote in his Facebook post. "I am offering my services and endoscopic procedures for free! Also applicable to indigent patients of your choosing…"
And it didn't stop there. Vikings Luxury Buffet offered him a lifetime supply of buffets, Apollo Home Depot granted him furniture worth 100,000 Philippine pesos, and Cookies By The Bucket promised a free supply of cookies.
These freebies are in addition to the Philippine House of Representatives cash incentive of 3 million Philippine pesos, or around $52,000, granted to all gold medalists. Yulo's prize money was doubled for his double win, a local news outlet reported.
It's common for Olympic medallists to receive cash incentives from their governments, although some countries reward more than others. In the US, gold medalists take home $37,500. Hong Kong — the country that offers the highest bonus — awards 600,000 Hong Kong Dollars, or $768,000, to its gold medalists, per CNBC
Still, a marketing expert said there is a fine line between celebrating an athlete's success and using freebies as a convenient marketing tool.
Marcus Luer, the founder of sports marketing agency Total Sports Asia, told Business Insider "in-kind" rewards should have real monetary value. For example, a free condo has more value than free meals — which are more likely to come across as publicity stunts.
"I would go to the brands and firstly ask them to stop the promotion and ask for proper cash sponsorship support for the long term. The free meals would be a nice bonus then," Luer said.
James Crane, a talent agent at Buchwald, previously told BI that more emphasis on digital marketing in the marketing world means that athletes at the Olympics this year will benefit from more endorsements.
"This will be a very healthy market for a lot of these athletes," he said. "It's going to come down to the athletes obviously capitalizing in the spotlight… sharing their stories organically to the public to get people interested, to get brands interested."
And these benefits are multiplied when the wins make history: When Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling won the country's first gold at the 2016 London Olympic Games, he soon became the face of brands such as Nestlé's Milo, Yakult, and Hugo Boss.
Luer said it's still too early to tell if the same would happen to Yulo. But Yulo comes across as very likable — similar to Schooling. And like Singapore, clinching Olympic medals in the Philippines is rare.
"So I have no doubt that he should turn his gold medals into millions of dollars in endorsements and set himself up for life, if he does it right," Luer said.
