Marketplace Roundup
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Toyota's On-Track Success Met
With Suspicion By NASCAR Fans |
The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Kate Linebaugh writes under the header, "Toyota Wins Few Fans At The Track." Toyota joined NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series last year "hoping to win over the millions of Americans across the country who flock to racetracks or tune in to NASCAR broadcasts." But Toyota's success this year "seems to be attracting more suspicion than loyalty." NASCAR-commissioned research last year "found only half of its fans think Toyota is good for the sport." Meanwhile, other auto makers and teams said that Toyota is "throwing money at the sport and buying titles, creating an uneven playing field at a time when U.S. auto makers are looking to cut their marketing budgets" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/24). In Charlotte, Jim Utter reports NASCAR Tuesday issued a restriction on engines with a "cylinder bore spacing more than 4.470 inches," which "should cost Toyota about 15 horsepower." The decision to "rein in Toyota's horsepower advantage in the Nationwide Series likely will fuel the perception the manufacturer would spend its way to competitive dominance" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/24).
AD DISASTER? Nike Oregon Region Communications Dir Bob Applegate yesterday issued a statement in response to an ad campaign for the Hyperdunk shoe that could be interpreted as homophobic. Applegate said, "Nike is strongly opposed to discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting athletes regardless of their sexual orientation. The advertisement in question is based purely upon a common insight from within the game of basketball -- the athletic feat of dunking on the opposition" (OREGONLIVE.com, 7/23). TRUEHOOP's Henry Abbott noted most people "had been upset by the headline on one [ad], which reads 'That Ain't Right,' but another ad carries the tagline of "Punks Jump Up." Abbott: "While that's a saying that's around, it's best known as the title of a 1992 Brand Nubian single that got the group in trouble" because it is "mostly bragging about violence, some of it very specifically targeted to gays." Abbott: "This is not a good development for whoever it is that will end up having to defend this campaign to those most offended" (ESPN.com, 7/23).
GREAT SCOTT: Bike manufacturer Scott, the second sponsor of the Saunier Duval cycling team, will take over the team after Saunier Duval "pulled out immediately in the wake of the drug scandal that engulfed its team at the Tour de France." The Idaho-based Scott firm, which supplies the team with bikes and had a contract with Saunier Duval until 2010, said that it would "provide financial support to the team until the rest of the season." Scott Sports VP Pascal Ducrot said, "The team will be called Scott, unless a new title sponsor comes in" (AFP, 7/23).
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