September 23, 2002

The MBNA All-American Heroes 400. That was the name of yesterday’s race. It seemed absolutely appropriate to celebrate the heroes of Flight 93 and the men and women of the military who are protecting our freedom. Remembering how patriotic and symbolic last year’s Dover race was with our return to any sort of normalcy after the tragic terrorist attacks, marking this anniversary with a spirited tribute in an All-American race was a great idea.

However, if the intention was to truly honor the heroes who fought for our liberty, why not just name the race to the “All-American Heroes 400”? Why continue to include “MBNA” – before the new name, which was chosen to pay tribute to our fallen heroes and our military personnel? Of course, MBNA surely pays millions to sponsor the race, but what is their objective in this new name?

In a word, marketing – and I think MBNA can take a lesson from GM Goodwrench and M&M/Mars, to name a few, on this one.

Even if you can overlook the inclusion of “MBNA” in the race’s name, look closely at Sunday’s pre-race ceremony. The pre-race activities were rightly filled with patriotic tributes, a breathtaking flyover, Hummers filled with drivers and military personnel that circled the track for driver introductions, and an amazing rendition of the national anthem sung by young men and women training to serve our country in the future. Throughout “God Bless America” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” the Stars and Stripes waved triumphantly.

Therein lies the problem. Each one of those flags, as they waved with enthusiasm, carried another little flag beneath it. Those beautiful Stars and Stripes represented our pride and honor. And that flag, our flag, should never be used as a marketing vehicle. The smaller, MBNA flag that was present beneath each American flag that was handed out at the track was outrageous.

Wonder why that little MBNA flag was placed there? Each time the American flag was shown on TV, the MBNA flag was present. That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in free advertising.

On the aspect of patriotism and celebrating our country and our heroes, MBNA could take a cue from GM Goodwrench. As a corporation utilizing sports as a marketing vehicle, GM Goodwrench appropriately honored the anniversary of September 11th last week at Loudon. Goodwrench and Richard Childress Racing achieved this by understanding that our nationalism cannot be mixed with commercial advertising, for then it appears as though the corporation is shamefully taking advantage of something that should be respected, revered, and celebrated.

Last year, M&M/Mars also completely removed their corporate identity on the 36 car and made a respectful statement about their corporate philosophy – they will not use our country’s flag and the healing we were all going through to their advantage. Marketing is marketing. Patriotism is patriotism. Even cars that carried a flag or other such tribute on the hood or rear-deck lid where sponsor names were limited to the quarter-panels seemed appropriate. For then, no corporate identity mixed with or adjoined that imagery.

MBNA’s heart was in the right place, I hope, in wanting to honor the heroes of Flight 93 who saved us from additional unthinkable horrors that dark day last September. A corporation who wishes to pay tribute to the men and women who so selflessly work day in and day out to protect our very freedom is admirable. In this capitalist society in which we live, there has to be a larger corporate philanthropic and community mission.

And so, I applaud MBNA for their efforts. They certainly had the right idea, but they overstepped the boundaries when they put their name all over each flag that was distributed at the track. Our country’s national symbol, our very identity as a country, and our patriotic pride cannot be sponsored.

You can send feedback to L.M. Burke at: Insider Racing News

Seriously Sunday

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The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.

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