Conservative Party sponsors stock car in NASCAR race!

That’s right. I thought it was pretty funny when I first read it here. The story explains that the party is sponsoring a stock car in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series to win over the estimated one in five Canadians who counts himself or herself as a NASCAR fan. The most interesting point was that one in five Canadian are NASCAR fans! I never figured it was so popular here. Then again it shouldn’t surprise me as NASCAR has grown to become the second-most popular professional sport in terms of television ratings inside the U.S., ranking behind only the National Football League. Internationally, NASCAR races are broadcast in over 150 countries. It holds 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events in the U.S., and has 75 million fans who purchase over $3 billion in annual licensed product sales. Pretty crazy eh?

According to the driver, Pierre Bourque, NASCAR provides a “terrific medium” to spread the party brand as Canadians switch from traditional sources of information, such as newspapers and television, into the rapid-fire digital age. The driver also says that it sent a message that the face and speed of Canadian political advertising is changing. I really believe they are on to something new with advertising and politics. Today, television and radio only reach so many people. Moving to new areas and keeping up on technology is where you will pick up voters in this day and age. I think it’s a really interesting idea, but I’m still unsure of how many people will go out and vote Conservative after seeing this. Then again, I don’t watch NASCAR, so I can’t really say that for sure!

The car will display the Conservative logo for two more races, first in Edmonton on July 20-22, then in Trois Rivires, Que., from Aug 17-19. Hopefully they will have better luck with the car though. The Dodge Charger finished 13th overall, but ran into engine problems after reaching as high as the fifth position.