APEX Brasil is getting pretty generous with the free tickets to the IndyCar finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. I already alerted readers here to the ticket giveaway in exchange for sampling free Brazilian foods at South Florida supermarkets.
Of course, few if any of those folks will be in the stands this weekend to watch Mario drive his car. But, thanks to APEX Brasil's ticket purchases, that's not a problem. Everybody gets paid, anyway!
This is how you prop up* a product that consumers have rejected. Why are the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Board and IRL management allowing this to happen to the series that races at the Indianapolis 500?
Roggespierre
*Originally, this line read, "This is how you prop up a lie, a product that...." BC argued that my choice of words was inappropriate. Reading it again, I agree. IndyCar racing is not a lie. It is a product that has been rejected. The latter wording suffices and is not needlessly inflammatory. Thanks to BC for rightly suggesting that I rethink my original language.
Now, we learn that the first 50 customers that fill-up with E85 at Midway U-Gas in Miami will each receive two free tickets to the penultimate IndyCar race of 2009.
Is it possible that the three-way shootout among Dixon, Franchitti and Briscoe has not brought a crush of race fans to the ticket windows at Homestead-Miami? Terry Angstadt and Company can't sell these guys, so they've enlisted APEX Brasil to buy tickets and then give them away.
Strange Incentives
The E85 customers will get the fuel for $0.85 per gallon, courtesy of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, no doubt a member of APEX Brasil. That's a great deal even if the lucky fuel buyers don't use the tickets.
Cheap fuel is a sure crowd pleaser at any location in the United States. IndyCar driver and team financier Mario Moraes is not. Therefore, having Moraes sign autographs for those who seek cheap fill-ups is a shrewd move. The IRL will be able to tout the hundreds, perhaps thousands, who showed up to get Moraes's autograph.
Cheap fuel is a sure crowd pleaser at any location in the United States. IndyCar driver and team financier Mario Moraes is not. Therefore, having Moraes sign autographs for those who seek cheap fill-ups is a shrewd move. The IRL will be able to tout the hundreds, perhaps thousands, who showed up to get Moraes's autograph.
Of course, few if any of those folks will be in the stands this weekend to watch Mario drive his car. But, thanks to APEX Brasil's ticket purchases, that's not a problem. Everybody gets paid, anyway!
This is how you prop up* a product that consumers have rejected. Why are the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Board and IRL management allowing this to happen to the series that races at the Indianapolis 500?
Roggespierre
*Originally, this line read, "This is how you prop up a lie, a product that...." BC argued that my choice of words was inappropriate. Reading it again, I agree. IndyCar racing is not a lie. It is a product that has been rejected. The latter wording suffices and is not needlessly inflammatory. Thanks to BC for rightly suggesting that I rethink my original language.
