Attention Starbucks: NASCAR Fans Might Not Be in Your Target Market

dpkimmel2001

Well-Known Member
Nov 6, 2008
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I guess Caleb Hannan's not a fan. :scratch: On CBL's show last night I heard them talking about this article. I'll admit that I'm not a Starbucks fan but this is a little too much.

Starbucks, the people who made it cool for non-yuppies to break the bank for an espresso, is the newest sponsor of NASCAR. In exchange for an undisclosed sum of cash, the coffee maker is now the proud owner of a panel on the Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex Jr. News which begs the question: Has Starbucks ever met a NASCAR fan?

nascarfan.jpg

Dale Earndhardt's biggest fan can't start his day without a caramel macchiato.

Chances are if you're reading this you've never been to a race. That makes two of us. But thanks to a college education in Southwestern Virginia, I have hung out outside of one. Specifically, outside of the Richmond International Raceway.

And if the people tailgating there were any indication of the sport's primary clientele, I've got a bit of unfortunate news for Starbucks..

$4 doesn't describe what NASCAR's Average Fan might spend on a cup of coffee so much as it describes what he might spend on an outfit.

(Unless, of course, said outfit is emblazoned with a picture of martyred hero Dale Earnhardt or the number of his car, presented so artfully in the picture above. For that he'll gladly loot his kid's college savings.)

Accuse me of unnecessarily stereotyping? Fine. I understand that in the past decade or two NASCAR has grown from its humble back-country beginnings to official title-holder of the Fastest Growing Sport in the Country. And hell, the Pacific Northwest almost got a track a couple years ago before things went screwy in Bremerton.

But even as the image projected by NASCAR has moved away from blue-collar bootlegger in order to capture white-collar fans and advertisers, its core audience still looks pretty much the same.

Not to get all Jerry Seinfeld on you ("I love NASCAR fans. My dad's a NASCAR fan!"), but the few guys I befriended who spent their Sunday afternoons rooting for Jimmy Johnson or Kasey Kahne all did kind of look alike. White dudes with ball caps and empty Mountain Dew bottles half-filled with their Skoal backwash.

Maybe that says more about my choice in friends than anything else. But it also gives me an idea.

Starbucks might not be able to interest most NASCAR fans in the product they sell. But since a lot of NASCAR fans also love themselves some chew, they do have something of interest to the man with a wad of dip stuck in his cheek and nowhere to discreetly release: cups. Lots of 'em.

Starbucks: The Official Spit Receptacle of NASCAR? Now that just might work.

Attention Starbucks: NASCAR Fans Might Not Be in Your Target Market - Seattle News - The Daily Weekly
 

Snoozer

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2008
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Canada Eh!
While I may agree that starbucks might not be a great fit, I'm a little put off by how this article comes across. It's a little 'douchey' lol.
And yes I understand he was trying to be funny. ;)
 

mghtx

2000 Man
Oct 23, 2008
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This kind of stuff isn't anything new. To me it's no different than all the remarks about the south, etc. The regular "holier-than-thou" stuff.

One thing though....if he ever finds himself on the side of the road with a flat tire, I doubt it'll be his hoity toity people who will stop and help him.
 

Snoozer

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2008
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This kind of stuff isn't anything new. To me it's no different than all the remarks about the south, etc. The regular "holier-than-thou" stuff.
Agreed. I love his sterotype about NASCAR fans what an idoit.


I bet he'd never guess that this college educated Canadian who probably makes more money than he does LOVES NASCAR! :cool:



/I'm not trying to brag about anything. I'm just annoyed by this writer!:mad:
 

CatDad 2004

New Member
Jul 7, 2009
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Maybe this is the result of a couple of bad days, but I think this "writer" might like to know that there are plenty of people around NASCAR Racing, myself included, who not only know about Starbucks, but can occasionally be found to consume an iced frap, or a venti latte every now and again.

I have a lifelong connection to Southwest Virginia. I'm very familiar with its Universities and Colleges. If this joker had no interest in NASCAR, then why, for snobbery's sake, did he bother to drive from Southwest Virginia, across the width of the Commonwealth, to get to Richmond?

Me thinks he claims more intelligence than he possesses.

Just sayin'
 

mghtx

2000 Man
Oct 23, 2008
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My wife still has her cappuccino machine from when she ran her coffee shop. Looks like this one...

LA%20PAVOLI%20cappuccino%20machine.jpg


She can make a MEAN cappuccino and can talk coffee (and herbs) all day long. :yesshake:

And she married a backwoods nascar fan! What was she thinking?


.....