Saturday, February 19, 2005

NASCAR And Liquor Companies team up

With the Daytona 500 running Sunday, some may notice a new sight as the cars take the track.
Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and Crown Royal are sponsoring entities. NASCAR had long had a ban
on liquor sponsorships, but that has now apparently been revoked.

Now for the big question. When will the liquor advertising police start demonstrating and calling for boycotts? Answer - Probably never. You see, NASCAR, stepped ever so gently onto the slippery slope. The contacted the National Commission Against Drunk Driving, MADD, etc., prior to negotiating with liquor companies. The result is a series of public service announcements paid for by the sponsoring companies. Obviously, not all organizations will feel that MADD and others negotiated enough. But it appears the most rabid have been somewhat pacified. My understanding is that the Jack Daniels sponsored car even has the message "Pace Yourself, Drink Responsibility" on it.

In the interest of full disclosure, which has become really popular lately, I am not a big NASCAR fan. I did have breakfast with Jeff Gordon once and it is very easy to understand why NASCAR has become one of the most watched sports after spending a few minutes with him. Now it appears "the good ol' boys circuit" has management with foresight as well as marketing wizards.

Just an observation.

3 Comments:

At 11:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are you aware of the fact that one of the long-term and well respected members of either the Childress or Hendrick teams has left due to the Jack Daniels sponsorship? It seems the team member in the past nearly ruined his life and that of his family via liquor consumption. At some point he became a Christian and gave up the bottle. Many years ago he told his boss that if his team ever gained sponsorship from a liquor or beer company he would have to leave. He has now done so and he and his boss have parted on good terms with mutual respect. The team member said that he simply had to follow his conscience.

 
At 12:14 PM, Blogger Ol' BC said...

Oh, yes, I was aware and it speaks volumes of the man's convictions. However, you'll have that from time to time, especially with controversial sponsors such as tobacco, beer, liquor, etc. I'm sure somebody has an issue with Sharpie.

Ol' BC

 
At 9:35 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was good on Nascar to start having liquor advertising. Hopefully, this will start a trend on more alcohol advertising, like in the old days on TV.

 

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