Boris Becker returns as an advertising figure and entrepreneur

Boris Becker came through the emergency exit. When entering the Emporio I room in a Berlin luxury hotel, Germany’s tennis icon was able to ignore the green sign with the escape symbol above him. However, the organizer of the PR appointment cheated on the color of the carpet. Mud gray with a black grid pattern instead of a “red carpet” as announced was the backdrop for the photo session with the star guest smiling routinely at the many cameras.

Becker could have joked about this scenario as well. He no longer needs grid patterns in his life. Irony, as soon became clear, was already the order of the day at the presentation of Becker’s first advertising deal for online window mailing after his return from England shortly before Christmas. In mid-December, Becker was released after 231 days behind bars.

Becker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in London at the end of April 2022 because he had concealed assets worth millions from his insolvency administrators. The reason for the early release was a special regulation for foreign prisoners. However, Becker must continue to cede part of his income to the insolvency administrator. And that should change soon, hopes the three-time Wimbledon winner.

“It’s a new beginning. I am in good negotiations with my insolvency administrator. I hope to find a good and fair solution quickly, ”said Becker at the presentation of the commercials with him as the main actor. “I have to earn money for that, otherwise I don’t want to say much more about it,” Becker commented on his situation.

“It’s about the money,” said moderator Gerhard Delling right at the start of the presentation. But for Becker, it’s also about responsibility. He would like to be a warning example for the “next generation”, he assured and told of the “old man” who “put his hand on the hot stove”.

There is no lack of employment. “I have a lot to do. All my other partners want to see me. I’m busy and that’s the best news that I’m allowed to keep working,” said Becker. A return to the tennis business is also possible. “I still have to sort myself out a bit. In fact, I have offers too. I have to find my way around first before I take on responsibility and work,” said Becker.

Of course, the life crisis with the imprisonment changed him. “I, too, am getting on in years and have paid a high price,” he says. “Wise, more intelligent,” he said. “I’ve created a new environment for myself. I am convinced that I have learned from my mistakes.”

Talking in pictures, and with humor, that’s what Becker does in the commercial for a Swabian friend’s company. He throws banknotes out the window with his hands full. “It’s important to poke fun at yourself. Yes, I threw money out the window,” he admits. In the spot he is wearing his old white tennis shoes with a red stripe. The treads are a bit worn out.

The scene with the money is of course a reference to his life. “It’s a big responsibility in my new life, in new freedom,” said Becker. “I hope you get the joke and the self-deprecation,” he added. Becker and advertising has always been a bit funny, whether for cars, chocolate cream or an Internet provider in the early years of the World Wide Web.

A bit of concern that he would have to take criticism and malice again at home resonated. He knows, of course, that times are difficult for many people. In Germany everything is always a little harder to explain for Becker. His relationship remains ambivalent. Sometimes fair, sometimes unfair he was treated here. He doesn’t yet know whether Germany should be the center of his “new life”. “First of all, I’m happy to be able to live in freedom again since I’ve been on a long vacation,” he added.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:230310-99-898477/7