Did Maria Sharapova’s name-change stunt backfire?
The tennis star wanted to change her name—temporarily—to ‘Sugarpova’ to promote her line of candies, but it proved to be too much of a headache.
Now, Sharapova is inviting even more scrutiny. In a promotional stunt, she reportedly wanted to change her last name to that of her candy line, Sugarpova, through the Sept. 9 end of the U.S. Open.
ESPN reported Tuesday afternoon that the name change wasn’t going to be happening after all. Sharapova’s agent, Max Eisenbud, said the stunt was intended to be a “fun, out-of-the-box type thing” similar to driving a glass truck full of candy around Miami.
“We would have to change all her identification; she has to travel to Japan and China right after the tournament, and it was going to be very difficult,” he said.
There were hints the name change wasn’t really going to happen anyway. Eisenbud didn’t answer calls from USA Today’s For the Win blog, and the U.S. Tennis Association said no one ever registered for the tournament under the name “Maria Sugarpova.”
Brand.com President Mike Zammuto says he hopes the travel excuse is just that: an excuse.
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