Mentholatum to sponsor Ironman 70.3 events with eye drop product

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. The Mentholatum Co. on Jan. 8 announced its title sponsorship of select Ironman 70.3 events, along with its presenting sponsorship of events in the Aflac Iron Girl National Women’s Event Series (all through 2012) for its Rohto cooling eye drops brand

“Athletes, in particular swimmers, runners and cyclists, are often faced with dry, irritated eyes because they’re constantly battling environmental or chemical elements,” stated Todd Cantrell, director of the eye care and pain management divisions at Mentholatum. “We’ve found that Rohto Eye Drops are popular among endurance athletes, and the product line has a definite place at these types of events. We will be doing sampling at similar type races across the country, as well.”

In addition to the event sponsorships, Mentholatum will be conducting a Rohto Endurance Sweepstakes March 1 through Sept. 30, where two grand-prize winners (one male and one female) will receive a men’s and women’s Ceepo bike, respectively. The sweepstakes also includes weekly prizes of Rohto Training Kits that will include a valuable assortment of training gear and nutritional items.

This announcement follows Mentholatum’s recent alliance with World Triathlon Corporation, the owners of the Ironman and Iron Girl brands, to introduce a line of Ironman-branded topical pain relief products, as well as Mentholatum’s sponsorship of 11-time Ironman Triathlon winner, Belinda Granger. The new face of Rohto Cooling Eye Drops, Granger recently sported the Rohto logo on her jersey when she finished second in the 2009 Laguna Phuket Triathlon held in Phuket, Thailand, in December.

This focus toward athletes represents an additional target demo for the brand, Mentholatum reportd, as the company has had recent success targeting “fashionistas” as the go-to eye drop for whitening eyes before applying makeup.