Advertising Observations From the Races

This weekend's NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway was jam-packed with all sorts of advertising goodness. Here are some of the highlights:

The Budweiser Donkey
Remember the furry little guy who was born a donkey, but meant to be a Clydesdale? He now travels with the Clydesdales, who have brand equity than any other animal alive. The little guy stole the show from his larger counter parts and even shakes hands with visitors. Now that's the power of advertising.

Aerial Advertising
There were seven or eight banners flown around the track by planes all weekend. In the past, there have only been one or two planes toting banners. It sounds like buying billboards in and around the track is so expensive that many advertisers, such as Nextel, vitaminwater and others have turned to aerial advertising for a cheaper way to get in on the party.

Ricky Bobby
You knew it had to come to this, but just like me, you wouldn't have it any other way. One of the most popular attractions on the Midway was the Talladega Nights trailer featuring tons of Ricky Bobby swag. Shake and bake baby!

Roddick Battles Pong, Maria Feels Pretty

It's US Open time, and several advertisers have capitalized on the opportunity to fill the airwaves with some tennis themed spots.

American Express came out with a clever spot that pits Andy Roddick against pong. The campaign is nicely integrated with an online pong-like game and gets extra points for being old school.

Nike and Wieden + Kennedy also rolled out a new spot featuring Maria Sharapova. As Maria heads for her match with a scowl on her face, everyone she meets serenades her "I feel pretty" from West Side Story. She silences the tune by hammering home a winner with the typical monster tennis grunt. This spot is also integrated online with a nice mini-site and has been heavily advertised on ESPN.com.

Portions of This Old House Brought to You By GMC

Although there are no commercials on PBS, there are underwriters and sponsors for most of the programs. This is where they drop the line, "brought to you by [insert company name here]" to get some exposure for their sponsors.

Until yesterday, that was the most creative use of this plug I'd seen. However, the little 10-second spot GMC runs for their support of This Old House is pretty clever. In each one, a GMC truck backs part of the house into the frame so it looks like it is installed in the house. The announcer follows up with the obligatory "Portions of This Old House brought to you by GMC."

It's very subtle and will probably never draw any attention other than right here, but I appreciate GMC breaking the mold with this one to do something unique. It's tough to make a 10 second spot, so these ads are clever because these all illustrate the point simply and effectively.