NASCAR commercials in non-racing broadcasts good for the sport
A full day of watching football from my couch yesterday reminded me of one of NASCAR’s most important marketing tools: commercials featuring drivers who cross over into mainstream sports telecasts.
The two primary examples yesterday were Burger King’s “Truth About Tony” spots featuring Tony Stewart being hooked up to a lie-detector machine and Jimmie Johnson’s oft-played Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools commercial where he’s fixing various items in disrepair.
NASCAR is constantly searching for ways to penetrate the “stick-and-ball” sports market and attract new fans, occasionally with a little success. But as the sanctioning body well understands, a terrific way to spread its message is to have sponsors that use the drivers in advertising campaigns.
Most NASCAR drivers are featured in commercials that play only during races. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards have been occasional exceptions to that, but Stewart has gotten the most non-racing airtime this year through the Old Spice commercials and now the Burger King ads (every sports fan is familiar with the “Estrada” spot by now).
The Stewart ads are good for the sport because he’s clearly identified as a race-car driver. Johnson’s Kobalt ads lack that same quality, however, because Johnson just looks like a regular guy – no firesuit, no race car, no writing on the screen that says “Jimmie Johnson: NASCAR driver.”
To non-fans, the fact a three-time NASCAR champion was even in the commercial would be totally lost. And certainly non-fans would have no idea who crew chief Chad Knaus is.
Burger King seems to be using the “new” sponsor model of not being on the car for many races but promoting its association with the driver anyway. The fast-food chain has only appeared on Stewart’s car twice so far this season, but judging by the advertising, you’d think it was all 31 races.
The teams may not benefit as much financially from such arrangements, but NASCAR as a whole does.
