NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, who has been an outspoken proponent of using social media, discussed the impact Twitter has had on his sponsors and prospective sponsors in a Q&A with ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell. Below is an excerpt of the interview.
Q: What will you do and what won’t you do?
Keselowski: I will only do something for financial gain if it generates revenues toward my fundraising goals. I recently did something with Waste Management because they were giving military veterans great salaries and I do a lot with veterans and they gave a donation to my foundation, so I tweeted about it. I'm adamant that you can't buy me. I'm not trying to make money off Twitter. I'm trying to be genuine. So yeah, I'll tweet about a commercial I'm in for Discount Tire (his Nationwide sponsor) or Miller Lite (his Sprint Cup sponsor), but I'm doing it because I'm in it. If I tweet about the new Ford Mustang, I'm not tweeting about it because Ford told me to. I'm tweeting about it because it's really badass.
Q: How about companies that have come to you and offered money to tweet about them?
Keselowski: I had a couple supplement companies come to my race team and ask if I would tweet out that I used their supplement with my workouts. And it was a significant amount of money, and I just had to tell them no. Team Penske supports me on this. They know that if I sell out my Twitter feed, we all lose (ESPN.com, 3/19). Meanwhile, Keselowski will make an appearance tonight on Fox’ “American Idol” (THE DAILY).
