They Call me Mello Yello

[Buns]

First off, I'm glad that someone is stepping up to sponsor the series. That's a good thing.

That being said, Coke has been pretty lax in their promotion of the sport. I mean, 12 million isn't exactly a huge commitment financially. Look at other large companies that sponsor series and teams and you'll see that 12 million is a drop in the bucket. Heck.. The operating budgets for JFR and DSR outweigh that by a ton. And don't get started on F1.

Those that said JFR and DSR do more to promote the sport than the NHRA and Coke combined are absolutely correct. The NHRA has a hard time even promoting teams in their own media initiatives.

 

[FC138fan]

It's a business decision. The head of Coke probably isn't a drag racing fan and has no interest in the sport, other then its a target audience. To them it is a risk / reward... pay whatever million dollars and get a return of whatever million dollars. We should be happy that they are throwing money at the NHRA.

Coke will make money, the NHRA gets money, so its win /win right? And again, who cares as long as they show up again next year in Brainerd.

However - I wonder if the NHRA financial department did the research to determine the financial impacts to the NHRA by giving Coke the exclusivity on the soft drinks.

But then again, Pepsi didn't step up and offer a bigger check to take over, which they could do if they wanted to.

 

[Buns]

Coke will make money, the NHRA gets money, so its win /win right? And again, who cares as long as they show up again next year in Brainerd.

I care because the NHRA is looked at like a joke compared to the other major motorsports assocations.

I care because we have executives in Glendora that don't care/have the knowledge to take the sport to the next level and a new generation.

I care because the NHRA does so poorly on TV that it gets bumped by bowling.

I care because as long as there are people that don't care, the sport will always suffer from these same problems.

 

[sammi]

Sad day....you have to wonder if we were going to wake up one morning and all of the graphics would be changed and NHRA would pretend it was ALWAYS the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. They don't appear very proud of this. Kinda like your mom making you wear a table cloth shirt to school.

Also, does it strike anyone as really sad that a sponsorship for a 15th place NAPCAR team is more expensive than an NHRA title sponsorship?

I can't wait to see Tony Shumacher waving around his can of Mello Yello in the shut down area.

 

[rckymtn3]

1978 Frank Oglesby ran a Mellow Yellow Mustang Funny Car.

cool....I thought I was going to go through three pages of posts with no one mentioning this fact. Frank Oglesby was a wonderful contributer in the NR Header Flames days.....I always looked forward to his additions....many posts about setups and the whys and hows......much like the clutch thread on here a ways back.

Personally, I don't get the reaction that many do here. I remember tube tops, bell bottoms, chokers, and longer hair was a big part of the Nitro scene. Just get groovy people....Most would tell you to stop being so fatalistic. I think it's got a lot of potential commercially....imagine a commercial showing the Coca-Cola Calvacade days, through the 70's, bringing it forward to modern fuel racing and making the connection that way.

Most think of a drug when they hear the name, and Nitro is a a drug. Let's face it....energy drinks, high caffeine and sugar drinks, are used to alter the body, much like a drug. (I'm sure they won't literally make that connection lol, but they'll imply)

As far as Coke doing Drag Racing a disservice? It's their series....they could advertise diapers if they thought they could make money at it. I think it says something about Drag Racing's ability to change perception in consumers. Drag Racing is cool. People like being cool, and they emulate. I see it being a good sign because Coca-Cola sees NHRA as a good way to sell products that are needing a push. Gives them a reason to want to stick around.


basically, what Jeff White said....

 

[mick]

.......does it strike anyone as really sad that a sponsorship for a 15th place NAPCAR team is more expensive than an NHRA title sponsorship?

yes, and as bobby stated, why won't coke activate this series?, it's almost as
if there has been a decision not to (i.e. someone close to nascar making
sure nhra sees minimal exposure); i mean let's face it, if nhra escalates
and money starts flowing our way, what part of pie logically stands to lose?
i would argue the other most popular american racing series nascar.
nascar stills holds many non-automtive sponsors; nhra has/have a few but
we remain majority automotive product sponsored.
sure coke sponsors our series, but how many folks on the street could
name powerade, full throttle and now mello yello as the brand tied to nhra?
how about the same folks questioned about nascar and their ability to
say 'nascar sprint cup series'.

nascar winston cup series
nhra winston drag racing

used to be damn near equals - not anymore.

 

[Gipraw]

I just wonder.. is this the best offer that was out there, or is the NHRA content to cash whatever check is handed to them without requiring any major work on their part? When Coke approached them to renew, did the NHRA shop it around, or just say ok?



I said it several months ago in another thread, but just think what this series could look like if Coke put as much effort into activating their series sponsorship as Traxxas has into activating their team sponsorship.

 

[mike]

Oh, I think the count down, and the Fri. qual. 12 rule, beats this easy.

but those where questionable NHRA decisions, not questionable Coke-Cola decision...

 

[FC138fan]

I care because the NHRA is looked at like a joke compared to the other major motorsports assocations.

I care because we have executives in Glendora that don't care/have the knowledge to take the sport to the next level and a new generation.

I care because the NHRA does so poorly on TV that it gets bumped by bowling.

I care because as long as there are people that don't care, the sport will always suffer from these same problems.

I appreciate your passion for the sport, but at some point you / we have to concede that only a very small percentage of people would even be interested in spending money to go to a drag race, and that no matter how much promoting you do, sports such as bowling, tennis, and little league baseball will probably always be more popular.

I am sure the folks at Glendora are doing their darndest to get money for the sport, and landing Coke is pretty respectable. Are they promoting the sport the best they can? I don't know, but I do recall hearing and seeing much more promos before the Brainerd race around MN this year then in years past.

There are lots more things I'd like to see at a race that I think would make the show better, but even if they did those things, those people that aren't fans still wouldn't go to the show.

used to be damn near equals - not anymore.

I was watching Days of Thunder last weekend and they had a shot of what must have been a late 80's Daytona 500:

I don't think they ever had that many people at a single drag race ever... even if they had that many seats available. I don't have the facts but I don't think NASCAR and NHRA have ever been really even close, NASCAR trumps NHRA as far as number of fans quite handily.

 

[James]

 

[Nick Name]

Those spectators are libel to get tire smoke on them. Where are the lawyers when we need them

 

[mick]

I don't have the facts but I don't think NASCAR and NHRA have ever been really even close, NASCAR trumps NHRA as far as number of fans quite handily.

go back and look @ nhra in the 70's. - wildly popular nationwide.
nascar was still stuck in the SE.

 

[SundayNiagara]

go back and look @ nhra in the 70's. - wildly popular nationwide.
nascar was still stuck in the SE.

I was there to enjoy it!

 

[Rat]

Mello Yello taking over as NHRA title sponsor - SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal | SportsBusiness Daily Global

sure hope this opens the door for other energy drinks
to participate in the nhra....again or for the first time.

27 years: nhra winston drag racing / must have sold some cigarettes
8 years: nhra powerade drag racing / must have aided brand recognition
4 years: nhra full throttle drag racing / must have done nothing
? years: nhra mello yello drag racing / ??

That's a great question. Either way Full Throttle is out, so does the Grandfather clause on energy drinks get lifted? I be a fan of that.

Mello-yellow? No. It's the name, it's the marketing. Linkinga slow type of name to this sport could be the nail in the coffin. It should be Fuze, Vault should be considered. It needs to have a product behind it that has a cool image behind it. Even just straight up coke, 7-up, sprite. Mellow-yellow just sounds slow and i think the target of the drink is to just relax and chill with some citrus soda and relax and chill is not about drag racing.

 

[MHayes]

Linkinga slow type of name to this sport could be the nail in the coffin.....

LOL, I couldn't resist quoting that line......classic!!

And what the hell is Tony Pedregon doing with K-LOVE on the side of his car...."positive, encouraging"....you know, I bet that's the reason he hasn't been running that well lately! K-LOVE has no place in drag racing!

And Wonder Bread....what the hell was Don Schumacher thinking when he put that on the side of his FC.....when I think of bread, I just want to sit down, relax and enjoy a nice sandwich! Racing and bread.....no way!!

Seriously....it's all about exposure!

And as Mr. Minick said earlier......"The rest of you are free to continue your scheduled "The Sky is Falling Complain-a-thon 2012"."

Thanks for the quote Mike!!

 

[mick]

i don't think it's about the name - nhra mello yello drag racing will act and
feel the same as nhra full throttle and powerade drag racing.
what's missing are folks behind the sponsors that truly appreciated where
their dollars were being spent and spent the time and money to let those
outside of drag racing know where they were playing; it was good for
both the sponsor and the nhra.

1990 Budweiser Commercial; feat. Kenny Bernstein - YouTube

 

[Rat]

LOL, I couldn't resist quoting that line......classic!!

And what the hell is Tony Pedregon doing with K-LOVE on the side of his car...."positive, encouraging"....you know, I bet that's the reason he hasn't been running that well lately! K-LOVE has no place in drag racing!

And Wonder Bread....what the hell was Don Schumacher thinking when he put that on the side of his FC.....when I think of bread, I just want to sit down, relax and enjoy a nice sandwich! Racing and bread.....no way!!

Seriously....it's all about exposure!

And as Mr. Minick said earlier......"The rest of you are free to continue your scheduled "The Sky is Falling Complain-a-thon 2012"."

Thanks for the quote Mike!!

Always count on you Mike thanks for the support, life is bigger than pointing out someone who did not push the spacebar hard enough. I'll just let you win your little tirade and let it become the Victoria's Secret NHRA Drag Racing Series. Too extreme? No, just like you didn't go to the extremes in your post.

Think about the sponsors, think about the image behind them and rethink your post, everything you named was never a series sponsor, if you haven't notice this post is about SERIES SPONSORSHIP!

Winston, Power-ADE. Full Throttle, Mellow-Yellow. Which one doesn't sound exciting or something everyone knows. Who even knows what Mellow-Yellow is? How many shelves do you see mellow-yellow on? Where is the marketing for that brand? Coke was talking about how Full Throttle was doing terrible in sales, so they change it to this? Full Throttle had at least the ad campaign.

Coke needs to do what I suggested along time ago, they need to sponsor a car in each class, no better way to really try and launch a new series sponsor.

 

[clwill]

Go to the web site: MelloYello

Starts with a video showing a guy pulling out an LP (yes, a vinyl album) putting it on the turntable, nestling the needle into the first track, settling into a chair, sipping on his mello yello and listening to Donovan singing the signature song. That's it. That's the image of the product they want to convey.

Click on "the beverage" and it says:

That pretty much sums up drag racing to me: "Taking all the time in the world to savor the moment."

Oh, and the website hasn't been updated in two years.

 

[Paul]

This is likely a rose colored glasses view, but maybe there is a chance that the Coke company has decided to aggressively re-brand Mello Yello and will be putting a big new marketing push on it, including heavily promoting the drag racing association.

Ok, stop laughing, but stranger things have happened.

 

[MHayes]

This is likely a rose colored glasses view, but maybe there is a chance that the Coke company has decided to aggressively re-brand Mello Yello and will be putting a big new marketing push on it, including heavily promoting the drag racing association.

Ok, stop laughing, but stranger things have happened.

Damn Paul, what are you trying to do, rain on all of the other negative posters parade with something that makes sense....how dare you!! LOL!

And yes, I believe it was stated somehwere that Coke was trying to get back, or wanting to take some of the share that Mountain Dew has built up.