Terry Tate, played by actor Lester Speight, will run against the 194 other candidates who have declared, including 'Terminator' actor and Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger, for the election that takes place on October 7.
The idea of putting Terry Tate, a loud in-your-face character, into the race came from Reebok's ad agency the Omnicom-owned Arnell Group in New York.
Peter Arnell, chairman and chief creative officer at Arnell, told the New York Times: "We're playing with it. We're already planning his withdrawal."
But until he withdraws, Reebok will be able to milk some of the intense publicity that surrounds the race, which has racked up hundreds of column inches around the world.
Tate's campaign slogan is pretty simple "Save our state -- vote Terry Tate" and even if he was not fictional he might well appeal to many Californians, who are looking to replace Democratic governor Gary Davis. Davis has been widely blamed for draining the state of cash and the widespread power cuts that have hit California.
The entrance into the governor's race is an extension of the campaign using Tate that began in January on Superbowl Sunday.
On his Reebok , the fictional Tate is described as the league-leading Office Linebacker for four years running and declares that Tate possesses the "vision, the experience and the unique ability to bring the pain up in this humpy-bumpy that California so desperately needs".
Like all politicians, fictional or otherwise, Tate is making big promises including to crack down on white collar crime: "Y'all suckahs who don't pay taxes and hang out on your Gucci yachts? With Triple T in charge, you know you gonna get caught".
"I'm the type of player that player haters hate to play -- 'cause I'm 100% heart baby, all day, every day.
"Most importantly, a vote for Terry Tate is a vote for a better future for California's children, families, and businesses: I'm gonna govern the [expletive] out of this state. Believe that, California," Tate's Reebok site says.
Other people in the race, aside from Tate and Schwarzenegger include former child star Gary Coleman; model Angelyne, famous for putting posters of herself up around Los Angeles over the years; lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante; Peter Ueberroth, the former baseball commissioner; Bill Simon, the Republican whom governor Davis beat last year; and the commentator Arianna Huffington.
With so many less than serious characters and others with major reputation problems to deal with, fictional and otherwise, the move looks like it could pay off for Reebok.
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