Behold! The Power of a NASCAR Sponsorship- Another Installment of “How Bad Do You Got It?”

Right now, I’m letting a special post I’ll put up tomorrow night percolate- a “What If Songs Were NASCAR Awards” edition. In the meanwhile I will share a story that you moms will find especially amusing with a NASCAR tie-in.

Most of you know Bump Drafts is a glorified hobby from the perspective of a radio sportscaster who’s an average Joe sports fanatic with a microphone. My wife is a successful personal finance blogger, owner and author of “www.beingfrugal.net”- a how-to and confessional for people trying to get more for the money. The thing has turned into an amazing little cottage industry, and she even has a book deal pending. I digress- just a proud husband here. Known was “JuneBug 88″ on a message board we both belong to, Lynnae is also a NASCAR fan- more of the casual variety.

Some of you may wonder why on God’s green Earth, why- even in a good economy- some company would pay as much as $20 million to have their emblem plastered on the hood of a race car. As a guy who spent years on the advertising side of media- in print, TV and radio- I can tell you that there are few accidents when it comes to a company name showing up somewhere. There’s a reason why on some shows, you see some generic looking cereal box on some shows, and Raisin Bran may appear on others. How about the prominent placement of Dr. Pepper and Snapper Lawn Mowers in Forrest Gump? Somebody is paying for that. How about Kurt Busch swigging on a can of Miller Lite he hasn’t even opened yet in victory lane? LOL! Somebody’s getting big time exposure and somebody is getting paid!

In quotes are excerpts from one of “JuneBug’s” shopping trips with my then 4-year-old son in tow:

“I took the kids grocery shopping this morning. Sam, my four year old, is a huge fan of Nascar. He has the drivers, the car numbers, and yes even the sponsors memorized. It sometimes makes grocery shopping an adventure.

This morning’s trip went pretty well until we hit the cereal aisle. Suddenly from behind me I heard, “Mom! It’s Kelloggs! It’s the Nascar cereal!” I looked. It was a box of Kelloggs Corn Flakes. We needed cereal anyway, and it wasn’t too expensive. I put it in the cart, thinking he’d be happy.

We continued with our shopping. As we left the meat department and headed to the beverages/frozen foods, Sam started yelling again. “Look Mom!!! COORS!!!!!” I frantically started trying to hush him. I figured people would wonder what kind of mother I am, since my 4 year old was so excited about beer. And we don’t even drink alcoholic beverages in our house. My attempts at quieting my son only made him yell louder. “But Mom! COORS!!!!”

With my face turning a deeper shade of red, I hurried my children through the frozen foods, picked up some milk and eggs, and turned the corner to the ice cream cooler. We were almost done with the shopping trip. I figured I’d heard the last from Sam. Wrong again.

“Mom! It’s the Nascar Ice Cream!!!” I looked. Didn’t see anything. “Where?” I asked, thinking for sure he was wrong this time. He slowly walked down the ice cream aisle until he found it. Nestle Drumsticks. At $4.19 for a small box. “Can we get this?” he sweetly asked. “Nope,” I replied. “It’s way too expensive. It’s not a good use of our money. We are going to get Tillamook ice cream, because it’s on sale.”

The end was in sight. We just had to pick up some bread, and then we could hit the checkout lanes. As I was putting some bread into my cart, I heard my son’s sweet little voice one more time. “TIDE!!!!” I never thought I’d see a 4 year old boy get so excited about laundry detergent. Tired, I sweetly said, “Yes, Sam, that’s Tide.”

I lived through the shopping trip, thankful that my children will be back in school again soon, and I will be able to do the grocery shopping by myself……” (Editor’s note: if you’re looking for all the details on planning a shopping trip and other lessons learned from this adventure, the full article is found in the archives on her blog)>

She continues….

“Never underestimate the power of advertising. There’s a reason companies pay big bucks to stick their name on a car going 200 miles an hour around a track. The advertisers want your attention. And they want the attention of your children. They know that when kids beg for things, parents often give in. Why do you think cereal boxes are stuffed with little Nascar cars or license plates? Advertising is all around us, and it’s here to stay. I plan on fighting back by educating my children on the power of advertising. Sam needs to know that just because David Stremme drives the “Coors car” doesn’t mean he needs to drink Coors.”

For any of you corporate types out there, there are about 13 cars looking for primary sponsors right now. I’d be curious to hear from you how deep your NASCAR addiction goes. The Budweiser sponsorship going from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Kasey Kahne caused something of a NASCAR World stir- leading me to believe we’re more sucked in to the sponsors that drivers rattle off after a win than we care to admit to.

A year and a half later I still chuckle at my dear wife’s shopping adventure.