The ubiquitous TV screens in the bar were all showing the Kia Soul spot; you know, the one with the adorable hamsters driving neon-hued Souls with the windows and moon roofs open as they cruise down the street while bobbing their heads and necks to the beat of the hip-hop music blaring out of the sound system.
Gary stopped in mid-sentence and watched the entire commercial. “I love this spot. It’s terrific,” he said. Then he mentioned that he had been in meetings with stodgy, old corporate executives who hate it and don’t get it.
“That’s why it’s so good,” he said. “They’re not supposed to get it, because it’s not targeted to them. The age group it’s designed to sell Kias to get it, and they love it precisely for the reasons the establishment hates it. Then they buy the cars.”
When I heard that the Maryland Jockey Club recently announced that Kegasus, Lord of the Preakness, will be back as the marketing campaign for the 2012 second jewel in the Triple Crown, I was thinking not so much of the half-man, half-horse mascot. Hip-Hop Hamsters are what popped in to my head.
A lot of us who really love racing in all of its glory, and love the Preakness, hate Kegasus. We prefer that the race sell itself on the magnificence, heart and athleticism of the three-year-olds as they compete to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
We want our Preakness conversation to be about pedigrees, past performances, and the amazing back stories of how each horse in the field came to be here. We can’t wait to learn what makes the connections of each horse so fascinating.
We want people to come out to the track and appreciate what phenomenal professional athletes the jockeys, are and how much the owners, breeders, trainers and their crews have invested not only into each horse but into the game itself. We hope that the race will be an interesting betting affair, resulting in a huge on-track handle.
We need a reality check. Big time.
Kegasus, and the festival around him that is an homage to heavy drinking and rowdy partying, was created last year by the MJC brass because it knew the race had to have a much broader appeal to precisely that younger demographic which buys Kia Souls. There just aren’t enough racing purists around anymore.
Kegasus worked.
After drawing crowds of 112,000 to 121,000 from 2004 to 2008, Preakness attendance dropped to 77,850 in 2009 when the track stopped allowing people to bring beer and other alcoholic beverages into the infield.
In 2010, the track’s advertising campaign was geared to a more youthful demo: “Get Your Preak On” was its mantra. Alcohol was back in the infield and it was a hit, drawing about 95,760 people, Last year, Kegasus helped bring 107,398 people to the track, a 12.1% bump from the previous yea’s bump.
The 2011 attendance was not only the largest in three years but also the sixth-highest in Preakness history. Yes, last year the handle was down 3.6% from the year before but that almost doesn’t matter in the bigger picture.
What matters is that people came to the track, especially the younger crowd that racing can’t seem to attract, not only at the Maryland tracks dealt a blow by competition from shopping-mall slots but all over the continent on a non “Big Race” or “Big Event” days. Moreover, they found out you can have a lot of fun, a really good time, at the races.
Granted that the fun was fueled in part by the Mug Club, where fans get a bottomless mug of suds for a single price all day and watch star acts like Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa, this year’s headliners. Kegasus likely is the most successful infield promotion in the track’s history.
And now, as the big guns at the MJC, the NTRA, and all of the other acronyms recognize, you can’t produce a new crop of racing fans unless you get them out to the track. At first, they may be there more for the beer and the debauchery.
The romance of racing is its glamour, the game as exciting as a sporting event can be, and the wagering a thrill-a-minute challenge. But every fan needs to be home-grown somewhere.
Think about it: That’s how we all started. We went to the track one day, watched a race, cashed a ticket and realized that racing is pretty damn great and we couldn’t wait to come back.
If the Kegasus crowd has a great time, they’ll come back, too. And when they learn a little bit more about the sport, the wagering, and what makes it truly the greatest game, they’ll become true racing fans.
So All Hail to Lord Kegasus and this year’s sidekick, Unicare, the half unicorn, half man. Can’t convince me that they don’t drive Kia Souls.
02 Apr 2012 at 09:24 am | #
Half man and half horse? Believe Darwin was all wet, but based on the handicapping circles I run in, would have been more appropriate to make the mascot half man and half ape.
TTT
02 Apr 2012 at 09:40 am | #
I have no problem wth Kegasus. I also liked “Get Your Preak On.” It’s good marketing for The Preakness...for The Preakness, not for racing. It’s a one off. The experience of the Preakness Day infield bears no resemblance to any other day at any race track in America except Derby Day. As such, I can’t imagine it’s creating any new fans. I do think racing could benefit from some kind of hip marketing campaign. “Go Baby, Go” is about as close as it’s ever come. But even that shot failed to reach the warning track. What I’ve wanted to see from racing is kind of a campaign of coyness. One that plays up racing’s cultish impenetrability...a campaign of exclusivity rather than inclusivity. Just as “bring the whole family to Vegas” didn’t work, neither will something comparable work for racing.
02 Apr 2012 at 03:04 pm | #
Andy Beyer, in his most recent column, wrote that Thoroughbred racing needs another Triple Crown winner. Really? He has been writing this same mantra for decades.
Now Kegasus is front and center. Wonderful! Thousands of youngsters, who don’t know which end of a horse farts and don’t care, will pay their admission to the infield and have a great time drinking beer and boys/girls eyeing each other - a race coming to post? What is that?
But, management is happy, they got their money from the admission of these guys/gals; their job is secure for a few more months, pension payments timely made.
Why is it that racetrack management, breeders, and owners of thoroughbreds can’t see (to use the ‘in’ verbiage of the moment) the elephant in the room?
My kudos to the author of the above when she says that she can’t imagine Kegasus’ marketing creating any new fans - Kegasus is simply ridiculous.
When, and I have asked this question for decades, are racetrack executives, breeders, owners, and TURF WRITERS going to acknowledge the elephant in the room and admit that without the ability to gamble racing would be out-of-business tomorrow; that GAMBLING, REPEAT GAMBLING, is the attraction.
So, to repeat a bit of history, in 1978 Thoroughbred racing was at its zenith. Then the rumble of cement trucks went down the turnpike to Atlantic City and casinos came into existence. The ‘fans’ in the stands at NYRA racetracks and other racetracks promoted by TURF WRITERS suddenly disappeared. Why? You know the answer, you turf writers and contributors at HRI.
It’s all about gambling, about winning money. The horse is simply a means to an end.
Nobody gets it (yea, they do, but won’t admit it) because it would be painful to acknowledge that people go to the races to gamble not to watch a potential Triple Crown horse.
Where to hell is the national marketing program promoting Thoroughbred racing as an option to sitting in front of a slot machine?
Yea, I can’t wait for the Kentucky Derby. Believe that and I will tell you another ....
And the beat goes on .....