Twitter Debuts First TV Commercials During NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pocono 400

Twitter for the “first time in its history ran television commercials on Sunday" during TNT's coverage of the Sprint Cup Pocono 400 "to promote the service’s tight tie-in with NASCAR,” according to Shira Ovide of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Twitter during the telecast “ran seven, 15-second commercials spotlighting activity on and around the racetrack.” One ad showed driver Brad Keselowski “taking a photo of himself from inside his race car.” The commercial tagline read, “See what he sees.” Another ad “showed a close up of a rapid-fire tire change in the pits,” with the line, “What they see is what you get.” Twitter VP/Communications Gabriel Stricker said a 15-second spot "is the on-air equivalent of a 140-character tweet.” He declined to say whether yesterday’s ads “were a one-time arrangement or a launchpad for future TV ads.” A Twitter spokesperson also “declined to comment on why the company ran the ads.” Ovide noted Twitter has “long had a close connection with NASCAR” (WSJ.com, 6/10). BUSINESS INSIDER’s Owen Thomas noted,  “Plenty of TV ads advertise hashtags." However, they "normally stand alone,” and they “don't form part of a Web address.” Thomas wrote of the Twitter.com/#NASCAR hashtag, “Maybe we missed it, but we've never seen that kind of hashtag URL before” (BUSINESSINSIDER.com, 6/10). TECHCRUNCH.com's Ryan Lawler wrote it is "safe to assume that there will be more partnerships like this in the future," as NASCAR will not be the "last sports league or big brand to take advantage of a Twitter hashtag page." Lawler: "Based on the success of this weekend’s experiment, we expect more brands to jump on board and curate social marketing pages based on their own hashtags (TECHCRUNCH.com, 6/10). CNET.com’s Chris Matyszczyk wrote, "Some people are already speculating that this is Twitter's attempt at exciting marketing folks about Twitter's marvelous commercial opportunities.” Matyszczyk: “I'm not sure how many marketing directors are vast NASCAR fans, but this will make for a lovely case study when Twitter tries to sell itself on to the next potential client in line” (CNET.com, 6/10).