The Irony Of Sports Marketing
Written by Hopper, Saturday April 25 2009
We see irony all the time in sports marketing. Something big happens, such as the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, and individuals or major corporations take advantage by coming up with wacky, ironically related ideas to make a few bucks.
For example, when Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges, one woman let her dogs chew up all of her Michael Vick football cards, and sold them on Ebay. Little did she know, she would wind up making a few thousand dollars off of the idea.
But irony in marketing has been prominent in NASCAR over the past several years as well. The most memorable, ironic marketing move occured roughly 4 years ago. During the Samsung 500 race at Texas, Tony Stewart's engine grenaded, leading to a horrific fire. Stewart managed to escape from the car, but the incident's presence is still felt.
It was the following week when Tony Stewart himself announced his newest product, Smoke's Bar-B-Que Sauce. That's right, within days after his own #20 Chevrolet was a bar-b-que in itself, his marketing department created its own sauce to go with it.
Irony has struck once again in NASCAR. A brand new GPS company has signed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to a deal, in order to create a Dale Earnhardt Jr. themed GPS system. Instead of the usual computerized voice telling you where to go, you're being guided by NASCAR's most popular driver. And instead of the usual little sports car curser indicating your position on the globe, Earnhardt's race car guides you around.
Here's the irony behind that. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has managed to miss his pit stall during a cycle of pit stops no less than 3 times this year. Now, it isn't very common for drivers to miss their stall, so for Earnhardt to have missed his as many times as he has in just 13 races(combining Nationwide and Cup) this year is a pretty big deal.
Before anybody gets the wrong idea, I am not, by any means, attemting to criticize Earnhardt's driving. I am simply trying to put the irony of all of this into perspective for the unfamiliar fan. If you do not appreciate me doing so, perhaps you should send Mr. Earnhardt a Global Positioning System so we won't have this problem. I kid. I kid.
Anyway, if you haven't already gotten the irony behind this, let me ask you one simple question: Would you honestly want directions from a guy who can't even find his own pit stall on pit road? That's what I thought. But, whether irony was the company's intention or not, they should use it, and it will sell.
Irony. It is one of the centerpieces of sports marketing. If used correctly, it will sell just about anything.
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Loved the article, it reminds me of the Bret Farve commercial where he can't decide on which HD TV to purchase, love it, truly intelligent marketing. I am thinking that a law firm who specializes in "on the job" injuries should hire Ray Lewis as a spokesman..wouldn't that be ironic, don't ya think? :) Carl Henegan Owner and Operator of IGB at www.BetOnMySportsTeam.com