Parking Kyle Busch Would Be Marketing Coup for M&M’s

November 9, 2010 17 Comments »

The M&M’s scheme would look great without Kyle Busch behind the wheel for one race. Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Take a quick glance down the entry list for Sunday’s race at Phoenix, and the most kid-centric sponsor on the sheet is M&M’s.

It’s not Budweiser or Stanley Tools, ubermacho brands that could actually work middle finger anger into their marketing scheme. Nobody should dogpile on Kyle Busch for flipping off a NASCAR official because they don’t like Kyle Busch. But they should hold him to a higher standard because he drives the car that’s most related to children, and therefore he represents the company that is most negatively affected by obscene gestures.

When children act up, they get their toys taken away from them. And M&M’s parent company, MARS, can set an example for little ones currently thinking of Santa’s naughty-or-nice standards by putting Busch in timeout for one week.

No, Busch shouldn’t be in the No. 18 Camry at Phoenix. A car that’s painted like a cartoon strip has to have a zero-tolerance policy on middle fingers. Tony Stewart may have done worse during his time at Joe Gibbs Racing, but he was driving for Home Depot, another roughneck kind of sponsor that could publicly scowl over boorish behavior but appreciate the upside behind the scenes.

In the case of Busch’s sponsor, there is no benefit. However, imagine the millions of dollars in exposure should his sponsor put him on the bench for the penultimate race of the season. It would be a top story from SportsCenter to The Today Show (which ironically has been doing a series on the decline of civility in America).

Busch deserves this for undercutting a sponsor that not only presented him with one of the top-funded cars in the Cup Series, but also went the extra mile in finding some spare coin for Busch’s cash-bleeding Truck Series team.

Just for that, Busch should be willing to play along even if it would make him want to punch a hole in the wall. Ownership certainly hasn’t matured Busch the way it has for Tony Stewart. And M&M’s can’t afford to wait for the next shoe to drop.

Especially when there’s so much to be gained right now.

  • w.g.gruner

    That was a really good point. That never entered my mind. Yet as parents all of us would dole out some kind of punishment to one of our kids doing the same thing to an authority figure. Then the 4 letter words in the media center? Didn’t he throw one of those words out when answering a female reporters question? M&M’s sitting him down for a race and hitting him with a fine like Stewart received from his sponsor, that would get Busch’s full attention and maybe the Gibbs organization as well. How is a parent going to tell his kid that giving the finger is bad and then get past the inevitable reply, well Kyle Busch did it. Really good point!

  • jld1948

    Amen Josh! We don’t mind seeing a little aggressive racing, or a little verbal or physical sparring, but for a spoiled (multi-millionaire) to think no more of his sponsor, team, or the officials working for the sport that made him a multi-millionaire, there is no excuse for these kinds of actions! Someone blessed with that kind of natural ability, deserves to profit; but not at the expense of those who have given him all that he has and certainly not the impressionable minds of children! I feel that he should have been removed from the car exactly when the infraction occurred and made to sit out the conclusion of the race. Fans are getting tired of his crybaby antics and there are 42 other guys to watch while he throws his hissy fits!

  • justanascarfan

    I sincerely and wholeheartedly agree as a 40-something veteran of watching NASCAR, and now have my 7 & 8 year olds watching (and they love it).

    Love the M&Ms sponsor…always been a customer…..but absolutely hate their current driver.

  • http://suerarick.us Sue Rarick

    By your reasoning Mars should close down it’s mega store on the Vegas strip because they evidently are supporting people that gamble away their paychecks and let their children starve to death. And of course beating someone to a pulp is far better for children to see than an obcene gesture. And I am also sure that was far worse than all the blood and gore they see on their video games.

    The reality is that M&M’s has a diverse demographic and can absorb a tantrum or two over being on a car that barely makes the TV camera ala UPS or NAPA

  • Gail Forrester

    Josh, that is the most assinine suggestion I have heard, even coming from a NASCAR blog. Who did these precious little kiddies learn their first swear word from? Kyle Busch? Unlikely. Where did they first see the one-fingered salute? FROM DADDY (or MOMMY) driving the family SUV! And who showed this horrendous gesture not once, but hundreds of times in the last 3 days? ESPN. Maybe NASCAR should tell ESPN they don’t meet their family standards rules and the remaining two races will be televised on the Christian Network.

    On the other hand, we did see a fine example of road rage a few minutes later, when Daddy Jeff Gordon physically assaulted another driver on the track. How about sitting Gordon for a race or two. Now, let me think, which would I rather have my child see? A raised middle finger or a physical attack by one of the ambassadors of the sport? Not a tough call for me. Gordon should be banned for life!

    The trouble with people like you is that you are hypocrital, self-righteous jackarses who appoint themselves the moral leaders for the rest of us.

    And M&M/Mars is arguably doing more harm to little children with their sugar-coated treats than all the obscene gestures Kyle will make in his entire lifetime. And you know the company is not going anywhere near a “morality issue” when their business is inherently immoral.

    Just admit it: you hate Kyle and now you have more reason to justify your commission of one of the seven deadly sins. Yup, the Bible talks about hate and anger, but not a word about middle fingers. Get a life. A moral Christian life which sets an example of tolerance rather than blind hatred. You make my stomach turn.

  • JustSaying

    I’m a Kyle fan. Love his gutsy style but you are 100% correct. This was not what M&Ms needs or deserves from it’s driver. It’s easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment but dang…sponsorship is not a given and KB needs to remember that! One other point, isn’t Joe Gibbs Mr. Christian? Seems like Coach would be publicly decrying Kyle’s actions. Just saying.

  • http://Nascar.com Wm. Weisel

    AMEN, AMEN, AMEN !! How many candy crunching kids saw that and thought that this behavior is now acceptable. This guy is totally bad for Nascar and of course M&Ms. The instant I see his nasty puss on the screen, I change channels. And this type of cat will never change his spots ! They coundn’t make enough candy, fast enough to serve all of the fans if he had his self-serving butt parked for the rest of the year and replaced with a nice person. Hey, what’s Ward Burton doing this week-end ? Any time it looks like shrub is going to win a race, I change channels, fast !

  • headstone

    josh stewart you are the whinning a$$ punk the way i see it …hey some of us race fans are tired of every punk reporter bashing kb because he does’nt live up to your standards how many kids do you actually think are watching the race ? you are a idiot!!!!

  • http://www.spudstravels.com SpudPotatoHead

    You have got to be kidding.
    M&Ms gets uber camera time to promote their brand because of Kyle inside the car. His ‘all out’ attitude is what keeps his car at the front or driving hard from the back – wherever he is on the track he’s exciting to watch and the camera knows it. 94 times he was focused on during the Texas race alone and even then he was laps down at the finish. 5th place in camera time for that race. Put anyone else (thats available) in that seat and M&M’s will be lucky to get more than 10 ‘appearances’ during the race.

    Do the math… M&M’s top brass is likely just fine with what happened. The flip off just means more camera appearances on NASCAR Now, Wind Tunnel and all the rest of them. The logo never looked so good.

  • Jack Teffeteller

    Just remember he is still human and human’s make mistakes and sometimes we do things we wish we hadn’t.Maybe he will learn from this bad judgement in behaviour.Like him or not he is one heck of a young driver.We need all these different personalities in Nascar to make it more interesting.I love the way he bows to the crowd after he wins and they get all crazy and yell and boo.I also think he will make Rick Hendrick regret giving up on him letting him get away.I also liked the black cowboy hat he wore at Texas after his win in the truck.Somebody has to wear the black hat and it seem to fit Kyle very well.

  • JC

    Hey Josh, no offense, but M&M’s parking Kyle is a stupid idea.

    I would have flipped them off too. Kyle was unfairly penalized a lap for speeding down pit road to beat the pace car. He was legitimately mad about that and he “had at it”. Then NASCAR issues a penalty because some director pushed the right button at the right time and it was shown on TV. On the other hand, Sir Gordon looses his cool, again legitimately, and sissy pushes Burton. Somehow, fighting is not “bad sportsmanship”, but flipping off the official from the confines of the cockpit is.

    Crazy stuff, this NASCAR…

  • JB

    I am not a Kyle Busch fan. I personally think he is a jerk. But I am all for NASCAR drivers expressing themselves, it adds passion to the sport. He was penalized for breaking a rule (abusing an official)- fine – end of story. Parking him for it – nonsense. Let it go.

  • Rick Reid

    The point of this blog is that it would be a marketing windfall for M&M.
    I think several of you have missed that point. The actual penalty to Kyle is almost secondary to the positive publicity the seuspension would generate.

    I agree with you Josh.

  • Lance

    Really? That idea is pretty asinine.
    Carrying on about a middle finger, wwwwooooowwwww.

    I’m going to pick up a bag of peanut M&Ms tomorrow…….

  • Gail Forrester

    Again, if M&M’s was worried about kids, they wouldn’t peddle sugar highs to them. Since when is candy a Christian commodity? And what sponsors pay for is TV exposure and M&M’s is certainly getting its money’s worth on that. Put some holy roller in the car and run around the back all day, see how happy that makes the sponsors! Would they sell more M&M’s with Morgan Shepherd or Ward Burton in the car? Not a chance in heaven or hell!

    Some of you are SUCH friggin’ hypocrites. Drivers swear over their radios all the time, they flip each other off, and Jeff Gordon assaulted another driver on the track, and you are worried some little kiddie will see what Kyle did and turn to a life of crime? What planet are you living on? As for Joe Gibbs, I was more offended at seeing his Christian webite advertised on Kyle’s bumper during the truck race than I was at anything Kyle did Sunday. I don’t need Joe Gibbs advertising his version of religion to me and I am quite sure Kyle was not thrilled with it either. JustSaying, “Coach” is a phony. I threw some of his bible-thumpers out of my house once and I would do it again!

  • Rick Reid

    Lord Love a Duck!!
    Would you guys get your heads out of your HuHa’s and read the article?!?!
    For those of you who can’t seem to find it, I’ll post the relavent part:
    “However, imagine the millions of dollars in exposure should his sponsor put him on the bench for the penultimate race of the season. It would be a top story from SportsCenter to The Today Show (which ironically has been doing a series on the decline of civility in America). ”

    It’s not whether or not M&M’s is worried about kids! It’s whetheror not it would be a marketing coup to park the little baby!!!!

  • Gail Forrester

    Read my lips: It would be a marketing DISASTER to park the most entertaining driver in NASCAR. Sponsors pay for TV time, not a PR announcement that will be forgotten before the race is over. Kyle always gets a ton of TV time; this week it will be through the roof. M&M’s is having a wet dream just thinking about it. It is NEVER a marketing coup to kill the golden goose. Got it?