Victory Lap
Ah, film it yourself. For this winter’s Super Bowl XLI, Doritos is skipping the celebrity commercial route and inviting consumers to create their own ads celebrating their love of the tortilla chips. Five finalists’ ads will be chosen in January and the public will be able to vote for their favorites on Yahoo! Video. The winning ad will air during the Feb. 4, 2007 game. Snackers will also be able to visit Doritos.com and enter promotional codes found on specially marked bags of chips for a chance to instantly win football fan prize packs. And in case you were wondering, the word Doritos translates to “little bits of gold.” Sounds about right: the brand generates more than $1.5 billion in annual U.S. sales.
Go on, get teed off. The PGA Tour and Turner Sports New Media have signed a multi-year Internet and mobile agreement to produce and sell PGATour.com. The site features live scoring, as well as exclusive use of “ShotLink” distance data and exclusive video and audio. “Golf lends itself perfectly to the new media platforms as there is a great deal, over 30 hours worth, of competition each week that fans want to know about,” said David Levy, president of Turner Sports, which will promote the site across its family of brands. In 2006, the three PGA Tours will compete in nearly 120 events for approximately $325 million in prize money. Tournaments will be held in eight countries outside the U.S. and in 38 states.
They’re seeing pink. Pink might not the hue one typically associates with the manly-man sport of NASCAR. But expect to see the color racing along motorways in October, to promote National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Viva Towels and Brewco Motorsports are painting their No. 27 car in the NASCAR Busch Series bright pink to drive awareness of the “need for speed” in researching a cure for the disease. The Viva effort is part of the paper towel maker’s partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). The pink racecar will be showcased during Yellow 300 at Kansas Speedway, Sept. 30 in Kansas City, KS and during Dollar General 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Oct. 13 in Concord, NC. Viva will also donate a minimum of $100,000 to BCRF and host an online auction of NASCAR memorabilia with proceeds benefiting BCRF. Also during October, Viva Towels will sport special prints and pink packaging, and pink No. 27 baseball caps will be sold online at http://www.officialraceshop.com.
You’re all wet. Or there’s a good chance a kid you know might be. USA Swimming, which sanctions more than 8,000 events annually, has over 292,00 members, including 26,000 coaches and officials. There are 2,800 member swim clubs, and the average member is a 11.5 year old female. The group estimates that 93 million Americans swim, making swimming the largest participatory sport in the country. The industry generates $1.4 million in sales of swim suits at retail, and swim club members spend more than $100 million annually in registration fees at their annual clubs.
Do you know where your children are? Check the slopes. The National Ski Areas Association’s 2006 national demographic study shows that the proportion of skiers under the age of 18 rose to 15.55% in 2005/06, up from 12.9% in 2004/05. Tthe average age of a skier dropped this season to 35.1. Snowboarding participation was up three percent this season, following several years of sluggish growth; last season, snowboarders accounted for 30.4% of ski area visits. And helmet usage is also up. Overall, 38% of survey respondents said they wear a helmet, up from 33% last season. Seventy-two of the 478 operating U.S. ski resorts were represented in the study.
