News flash: the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, otherwise known as NASCAR, has a significant blue-collar following across America. Everyday Americans love their stock car racing almost as much as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and their Bibles.
NASCAR, however, in their own words, has made a “gradual shift” over the years and has now decided to ban advertisements for guns. Or at least, some guns.
NASCAR makes money by selling advertising. And businesses gain customers by marketing themselves. For gun-owning Americans, NASCAR racers’ uniforms, their cars, broadcasts and more make nice places for firearms sellers to market their wares to people who are highly likely to be customers.
However, as the Washington Examiner reports :
A pair of gun companies said this week that NASCAR rejected their rifle ads because of the racing company’s “gradual shift on guns.”
Dark Storm Industries said an ad it submitted featuring one of the company’s AR-15s was rejected and online retailer K-Var Corp. said an ad featuring an AK-47 and 9mm handgun was also rejected. Both said a NASCAR advertising agency solicited ads from them for NASCAR publications. They submitted ads but were told NASCAR would not accept them.
Gunmaker Dark Storm Industries called NASCAR out for their newfound wokeness, saying “NASCAR has turned their back on the overwhelming majority of their fan base.”
Of course, the AR-15 style rifle depicted in Dark Storm’s ad has the distinction of America’s favorite rifle. In fact, Americans own more AR-15s than America’s best-selling pickup trucks, the Ford F-150.
Yet NASCAR, home to a huge percentage of Hillary Clinton’s basket of deplorables, wants to ban ads featuring America’s favorite rifle? That would be like banning ads for motor oil or beer.
Dark Storm’s experience mirrors that of K-Var. They received an email from Sunny Berlin, the art director for National Event Publications who apparently handles NASCAR’s advertising. She wrote to them:
We just heard back from NASCAR on a number of gun related ads and unfortunately due to a gradual shift in their position on guns, these ads must be edited/changed– especially those that are depicted as assault style rifles/sniper rifles. They are still open to some ads featuring some of the less controversial gun accessories, concealed carry, or classes.
Can you supply a new ad that would fit more along these guidelines? NASCAR will then review again.
She gave them a 24-hour window to send a new ad. K-Var told her to pound sand.
Yet some firearms sponsors are A-OK with NASCAR. Just last month prominent rifle and shotgun maker Henry announced that . . .
Henry Repeating Arms and Road America have reached an agreement naming Henry Repeating Arms as the title sponsor of the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the world-renowned 4-mile, 14-turn road course. The Henry 180, scheduled for August 8, 2020, takes place less than 300 miles away from Henry Repeating Arms’ 138,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Rice Lake, WI.
So NASCAR’s OK with some rifles, just not the scary black kind.
Radio host Mark Walters, host of Armed American Radio, calls himself a life-long NASCAR fan. He had this to say about NASCAR’s new policy banning America’s favorite rifle, again from the Examiner:
“Go ahead NASCAR, try to fill the stands with a bunch of David Hogg, Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, urban, progressive, skinny jean wearing, soy sipping, man-bun wearing, Antifa loving, gun-hating socialists,” Walters wrote. “I won’t be around to see how that turns out for you.”
Four words, NASCAR: Get woke, go broke.