Italian coffeemaker Lavazza partners with tennis legend Andre Agassi and the U.S. Open to give back to the Andre Agassi Foundation for Children.
At Day 2 of the U.S. Open, Lavazza unveiled their newest partnership with Andre Agassi, international tennis champion and one of the only athletes to have a Golden Slam–four Grand Slam titles and a Gold medal. Agassi is the coffee company’s spokesperson and face of the “I’m Back” campaign, which launched in New York City as Lavazza spread the word on social media and released Andre Agassi look-a-likes into the streets of New York to interact with tennis fans in town.
Vice Chairman Marco Lavazza said of the collaboration, “Lavazza is proud to unveil our new global partnership with one of history’s greatest athletes, Andre Agassi, and kicking it off with the ‘I’m Back’ campaign at the US Open.” He added, “We began communicating the company’s passion for tennis over six years ago at Wimbledon, and tournaments quickly became one of our core strategic platforms from which to communicate our heritage, values and products. Indeed, investing in the sport makes strategic sense for Lavazza: our target customer profile fits perfectly with that of a tennis fan, and beyond that, presence at key tournaments and the four Grand Slams gives us an opportunity to further showcase our quality products in key countries for the company.”
Andre Agassi commented, “In my autobiography I write about my life-long love for coffee, so it is a natural fit for me to be partnering with Lavazza, a company that has been at the forefront of the industry from day one. Lavazza not only invented the coffee blend more than 120 years ago, but also works with passion to make the best quality and authentic Italian coffee I have known and loved for decades.” He added, “I am very proud to be partnering with Lavazza, a company that shares not only my passion for tennis, but also an ethical commitment to children and education.” At the U.S. Open this year, for every drink sold at the on site Lavazza cafés, the company will donate $1 to the USTA Foundation to benefit the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, which is dedicated to transforming public education and creating opportunities for children. Funds raised will be specifically assigned to the foundation’s college readiness program “Summer of a Lifetime” at the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy school in Nevada (with more than 1,200 students) as well as financial assistance for college tuition.
More information on the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education can be found here.