DOES THE AD APPEAL REMAIN?\Some companies reserve judgement on Johnson's comeback.

Byline: E. Scott Reckard Associated Press 

Magic Johnson has always been among the most popular superstars, but the stigma of the AIDS virus made him an advertising outcast.

As he returns to the Lakers four years later, have times changed?

Spalding Sports Worldwide, which has had Johnson under contract since 1980, stopped selling inexpensive rubber basketballs with his name a year after he retired.

Now the company is considering making a $100-plus Johnson commemorative ball, like those from All-Star games, said John Doleva, Spalding's managing director for leisure products. A decision will wait until after the Super Show, the sporting goods industry's biggest trade show, in Atlanta this weekend.

And watch for Johnson's gleeful smile and amiable patter to pop up in ads promoting his own line of bargain-priced sports shoes and apparel from MVP Sports. MVP, of which Johnson is part owner, will preview them Sunday at Super Show.

Roberto Muller, a former Reebok International president whose marketing firm is working for MVP, insists there's no connection between Johnson's return and the new products. A comeback was never mentioned when work on the product launch began six months ago, he said.

"One of the things you can absolutely count on is his honesty and credibility," Muller said Tuesday, hours before Johnson was to put on his Lakers uniform to play the Golden State Warriors.

Muller added, though, "He should be wearing the shoes tonight."

Given the tremendous goodwill in Los Angeles among fans who remember the Lakers' "Showtime" glory days, regional advertisers might find a Johnson tie-in to be, well, magic, marketing executives say.

But regional ads, "tools of the trade" ads for basketballs and self-promotion are quite different from major campaigns for mainline companies.

And while Johnson's agent, Lon Rosen, says some such offers are still coming in - he says Kodak wants to use Johnson in ads tied to the Olympics - most experts are skeptical about the prospects.

"All except the most aggressive advertisers will stay away," says Marty Blackman at New York's Blackman & Raber, longtime consultants to advertising agencies and corporations on sports personalities. "And certainly with the season so late we're not talking about anything soon."

Michael Jordan returned to the NBA and eventually became as excellent a player as he was before he left. But big questions remain about Johnson. He is 36 years old and 27 pounds over his former playing weight. He is switching his position, from guard to power forward.

And unless he returns to superstardom, count on corporate America to figure there are plenty of other players - the Michaels, Hakeems and Shaquilles of the world - who make better endorsers without the prospect of offending middle America.

"It's not so much the issue of HIV and AIDS," said Stephen Disson, whose D&F Group in Washington, D.C., arranges sports tie-ins for clients like AT&T, Visa, Kodak and Marriott.

"It's how Magic was so outspoken about how promiscuous he was and all of his escapades. That just opens up a whole can of worms."

Blackman agrees, saying, "He didn't get this by falling down on a Boy Scout expedition. There are going to be people who say, 'Hold on here - how did he obtain this horrible disease?' "

He allows that some advertisers might get aggressive and break up their normal campaigns with a one-shot spot.

"If I was going to use Magic Johnson, I would do it with a short, quick campaign - maybe use him with another player welcoming him back," Blackman said. "I'd run it for 30 days. That way, I minimize my risk."