The Power of NASCAR Sponsorships

I took the kids grocery shopping this morning. Sam, my four year old, is a huge fan of Nascar. He has the drivers, the car numbers, and yes even the sponsors memorized. It sometimes makes grocery shopping an adventure.

This morning's trip went pretty well until we hit the cereal aisle. Suddenly from behind me I heard, "Mom! It's Kelloggs! It's the Nascar cereal!" I looked. It was a box of Kellogs Corn Flakes. We needed cereal anyway, and it wasn't too expensive. I put it in the cart, thinking he'd be happy.

We continued with our shopping. As we left the meat department and headed to the beverages/frozen foods, Sam started yelling again. "Look Mom!!! COORS!!!!!" I frantically started trying to hush him. I figured people would wonder what kind of mother I am, since my 4 year old was so excited about beer. And we don't even drink alcoholic beverages in our house. My attempts at quieting my son only made him yell louder. "But Mom! COORS!!!!"

With my face turning a deeper shade of red, I hurried my children through the frozen foods, picked up some milk and eggs, and turned the corner to the ice cream cooler. We were almost done with the shopping trip. I figured I'd heard the last from Sam. Wrong again.

"Mom! It's the Nascar Ice Cream!!!" I looked. Didn't see anything. "Where?" I asked, thinking for sure he was wrong this time. He slowly walked down the ice cream aisle until he found it. Nestle Drumsticks. At $4.19 for a small box. "Can we get this?" he sweetly asked. "Nope," I replied. "It's way too expensive. It's not a good use of our money. We are going to get Tillamook ice cream, because it's on sale."

The end was in sight. We just had to pick up some bread, and then we could hit the checkout lanes. As I was putting some bread into my cart, I heard my son's sweet little voice one more time. "TIDE!!!!" I never thought I'd see a 4 year old boy get so excited about laundry detergent. Tired, I sweetly said, "Yes, Sam, that's Tide."

I lived through the shopping trip, thankful that my children will be back in school again soon, and I will be able to do the grocery shopping by myself. There are a couple of lessons to be learned from this trip, though.

Shop with a list and stick to it. A big downfall for me this morning is that I ran into the store to pick up a few things, and I didn't take a list. We ended up picking up Corn Flakes and ice cream that I hadn't planned on buying. I also forgot a few things that I needed, because I was too busy laughing at Sam's antics.

If at all possible, don't take your children shopping with you. They can be a distraction. And let's face it. When they look at you with their cherub-like faces, begging to buy some special cereal, it's sometimes hard to say no.

Finally, never underestimate the power of advertising. There's a reason companies pay big bucks to stick their name on a car going 200 miles an hour around a track. The advertisers want your attention. And they want the attention of your children. They know that when kids beg for things, parents often give in. Why do you think cereal boxes are stuffed with little Nascar cars or license plates? Advertising is all around us, and it's here to stay. I plan on fighting back by educating my children on the power of advertising. Sam needs to know that just because David Stremme drives the "Coors car" doesn't mean he needs to drink Coors.