Count It: U.S. Census Bureau's Recent Sports Ad Spending Discussed

U.S. Census Bureau Defends Sports Advertising, Says Census Is "Really Important"

The U.S. Census Bureau is in the midst of a three-race deal with Roush Fenway Racing to serve as primary sponsor of Greg Biffle's No. 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford, and Census spokesperson Stephen Buckner said the organization is trying to "spend a little money on advertising and communications and outreach to try to motivate people to mail back their form." Buckner, whose organization also ran an ad during CBS' coverage of Super Bowl XLIV, said, "The census is really important. It's mandated by the Constitution, so the Census Bureau really wants us to make sure we get it right." Buckner noted the Super Bowl ad was "viewed at an all-time high ... and it got out there the Census was there and then people started to talk about it a little bit." Buckner: "We're still talking about the Super Bowl ad one month after the Super Bowl. Name that about another commercial that was featured there. It's done its point to increase awareness." He said the $2.5M ad was "very effective in the sense of creating that overall awareness." Meanwhile, Buckner noted NASCAR has "about 75 million fans and we figure we spent about ... $1.2M for three races." Biffle finished eighth in last Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500, the first race in which he drove the Census-sponsored car. CNBC's Darren Rovell wondered why the bureau is advertising in NASCAR when it is "worried about undercounting African-Americans, Hispanics and homeless," groups that are "not really part of that fan base." Buckner: "In terms of outreach to minorities, NASCAR reports that about 1 in 5 of their fans are minorities. ... We are spending a lot of money on various minority and ethnic audiences for the 2010 census" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 3/8).

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