NOT News: Coke takes soda contract from Pepsi
A classic example of news for those who really have nothing better to do with their lives:
Who "effing" cares? Replacing one overpriced brand of caffeinated sugar water with another five years from now? For an event that claims to be a sport, but which entails nothing more than the "athlete" sitting on his or her ass for several hours navigating more than a ton of metal and plastic around an elongated circle at ridiculous speeds? That's news?
Coca-Cola to replace Pepsi in exclusive deal at 10 auto racetracks
Associated Press Sports, July 9, 2007
ATLANTA (AP) -The Coca-Cola Co. will take over exclusive soft drink and water marketing and pouring rights at 10 racetracks served by rival Pepsi by 2012 under a multimillion dollar deal announced Monday with International Speedway Corp.
The 10-year deal makes Coca-Cola's brands the official soft drink, official sparkling beverage and official water for 10 of the 13 tracks owned or operated by ISC, including Daytona International Speedway, the venue for one of racing's premier events, the Daytona 500.
Both Atlanta-based Coca-Cola and Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsi bid for the agreement. Several factors including price were involved in the selection of Coca-Cola, ISC spokesman Lenny Santiago said.
Who "effing" cares? Replacing one overpriced brand of caffeinated sugar water with another five years from now? For an event that claims to be a sport, but which entails nothing more than the "athlete" sitting on his or her ass for several hours navigating more than a ton of metal and plastic around an elongated circle at ridiculous speeds? That's news?
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Coke –vs.- Pepsi ain’t news when it comes to NASCAR news … Friday, the BIG NEWS was confirmed … by FOX News.
During the 10AM Fox Radio News Report, the top three stories were :
1. Al Qaeda is sending terrorist teams into the US for attacks. [Fear-mongering?]
2. Clashes in Iraq on Thursday left two Reuters journalists dead. [ There may be more to this story … see below.]
3. The BIG NEWS : Dale Ernhardt, Jr. would NOT have Budweiser as a sponsor.
"Budweiser has sponsored Dale Jr. for nearly a decade, and we wish him the very best," said Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch Inc. "Budweiser will remain an active sponsor of NASCAR, and we look forward to building upon the legacy of the iconic Budweiser red car in 2008 and beyond."
THAT’s right … the third most important news story of the moment according to the folks that are known for “we report … you decide”. I guess what that means is “we report (what we think is important) … you decide (it’s important because we told you so).
Okay, since Fox is not the “Most Trusted Name in News”, could the Story #2 have any aspects that were not reported ? Per the New York Times : “The two Reuters staff members, both of them Iraqis, were killed when troops on an American helicopter shot into the area where the two had just gotten out of their car, said witnesses who spoke to an Agence France-Presse photographer who arrived at the scene shortly after their bodies were taken away.”
It’s that mismanagement of what is important in the news, (and the corresponding belief by the masses) that makes me cringe when I hear people talk about the liberal bias. Reading a variety of sources and questioning is critical to being an informed citizen. I wrote a commentary in my Minnesota Central blog, MEDIA ALERT : Michele Bachmann is RIGHT ! in which I agreed with Congresswoman Bachmann that the media must do a better job. In fact, I heard Michael Moore expressing the same opinion … wow, Bachmann and Moore in agreement.
IMO – There is some validity to the reporting of Coke pushing Pepsi out of NASCAR tracks. It’s a business story that has investor interest. For disclosure purposes, I currently own stock in both companies and have been considering taking some profits in KO. The story broke on 7/10, so looking at the close of prices on 7/9 what has been the reaction to the announcement? KO went from $52.70 to $53.11 or a gain of $.41 while the PEP went from $66.05 to $66.85 or a gain of $.80. So the Not News did not sway investors to Coke.
Conversely, the Budweiser NASCAR story has minimal investor value. I am not a NASCAR fan, but know that Dale Jr. is not performing well (on the track) and may not be in the group of top drivers at the end of the season. Budweiser will continue to advertise at NASCAR events and just support some other driver.
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