Well, here we go again.
In the last few days, there have been a handful of announcements from various sponsors promising that if their driver gets voted into Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All Star Race, they will make a generous contribution to the charity of their choice.
At first glance, there’s not much to dislike about that. NASCAR fans get to vote for their favorite driver, while also doing something nice for a needy group, organization or cause. Bubbling just beneath the surface, however, lies the disturbing truth.
Read carefully and you’ll see that the charitable contribution is made only after “Driver A” is voted into the NASCAR Sprint All Star Race, providing his/her sponsor with tens of thousands of dollars in free publicity and television airtime.
That’s not charity, my friends. That’s self-enrichment.
Sadly, this whole "Vote for me and I’ll do something nice” idea is nothing new. Sponsors have now been attempting to bolster their driver’s All Star chances in this manner for more than a decade. It’s gotten to the point where drivers now admit – off the record, of course – that a charity based, feel-good campaign is now necessary, if they truly hope to prevail in the annual All Star Fan Vote.
I pray that’s not true. But I fear they may be right.
Should NASCAR’s All-Star selection process really be based upon how much money someone donates to charity? Or should that selection depend simply on a driver’s popularity with the fans, and his/her performance on the race track?
The answer, I think, is pretty obvious.
No matter how they attempt to spin it, the truth is that sponsors who dangle the charity carrot in front of fans do so primarily for their own gain. They attempt to portray themselves as charitable, magnanimous and giving, while enriching mainly themselves.
The answer, I think, is pretty obvious.
No matter how they attempt to spin it, the truth is that sponsors who dangle the charity carrot in front of fans do so primarily for their own gain. They attempt to portray themselves as charitable, magnanimous and giving, while enriching mainly themselves.
That’s coercion at best, pure bribery at the worst. And it’s not what the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race is supposed to be about.
If sponsors are really serious about doing something good for charity -- with no regard for their own corporate gain -- they can make a donation right now, with no strings attached. Instead, they choose to twist the collective arm of NASCAR Nation by saying, “Give us what we want, and we’ll help out the sick little children.”
That’s unconscionable, in my opinion.
That’s unconscionable, in my opinion.
All this week, you can vote for your favorite driver at NASCAR.com. You can also go online and make a contribution to your favorite charity. I encourage you to do both.
Just don’t confuse the two.
