What exactly is NASCAR marketing? (1 Viewer)

[Brian Perry]

On FOX tonight I witnessed a very revealing commercial. It was a montage of car crashes with the tag line "last year was just the beginning."
Who created the commercial? NASCAR. It was a promo for the Subway 400.
Forget that Dale Earnhardt and several others were killed last year in car crashes. What is the message NASCAR is trying to send to its fans? That the whole point of watching auto racing is to see spectacular wrecks? Apparently yes.
It would be one thing if the commercial comprised ten images of great driving manuevers and only one or two collisions. But this commercial was at least 90% crashes, one after another! Is NASCAR proud of that?

 

[CharlesD]

Well I can't speak for NASCAR fans because I am not one, but as a long time fan of motor-racing I detest crashes. Sure it can be exciting to see them in replay later, but when I see a crash at a race I have a horrible feeling inside.
Although most form of the sport have got a lot safer than they were 10 or 20 or 30 or more years ago, it is still a very dangerous sport. Crashes like Burti's at Spa last year (head on into a tire barrier at a good 170 mph) just sicken me. Luckily he was pretty much ok and suffered "only" a concussion, but things like that make me question why I enjoy the sport sometimes.
As for the ad you mentioned I don't know what their goal is. NASCAR in the US is a huge phenomenon, many fans are more recent and of the more casual type. I would imagine that the long-time fans of NASCAR feel as I do about the crashes. All I can say is that maybe SOME of the more recent fans are attracted by the danger and spectacular crashes, but not being long time fans don't realize how many have died or been injured in such crashes.

 

[Kevin Coleman]

Brian,
That is 100% FOX's style. It is not NASCAR's call.
I mean come on this is the same network that brought us such high quality family entertainment as "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire" and "Temptation Island" and "Worlds Scariest Police Chases 235"
It is simply FOX selling out for ratings as usual. You seem surprised.
Real NASCAR fans don't like the wrecks and cringe every time we see a big one.
Kevin C.

 

[Brian Perry]

Kevin,

I misspoke about NASCAR creating the commercial. An ad agency (or FOX) created it. But I would think it had NASCAR's blessing.

I do agree they're probably going for the casual viewers, not the hard-core fans. I just think the commercial was in poor taste.

 

[Steve Clark]

It's not just Fox. Did you watch the Bud Shootout Sunday on TNT? All they talked about pre-race, during the race, and after the race, was the young guns such as Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt, Jr.. The over-40 drivers need not apply. I am a big fan of the older drivers such as Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace and can see the writing on the wall that the TV coverage has changed. I think it is taking its cue from the NBA and Major League Baseball and is focusing on the young superstars.

Part of this probably has to do with the death of Dale Earnhardt, who was the Michael Jordan of the sport. With him gone, I think the networks are now looking for the younger race set to fill the void rather than the older racers. Just a couple of years ago, I believe ESPN and whoever else covered the sport would have turned to an established older racer to take the reins. I think this is a mistake. With the rise of Tiger Woods in golf, CBS has maintained dignity in its coverage of golf. I hope Fox does not take a WWF approach to NASCAR.

 

[Philip Hamm]

It would be one thing if the commercial comprised ten images of great driving manuevers and only one or two collisions.

The problem with this is that "great driving manuevers" in auto racing often involve subtleties that would not be possible to show on a 20 second commercial spot.

I enjoy watching motorcycle road racing and absolutely hate seeing wrecks. Last year's Daytona 200 was excruciating. Fortunately, usually there are only minor crack-ups in motorcycle racing, but once in a while there are some really bad ones.