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Mars Continues NASCAR Sponsorship

Mars North America will extend its contract as official NASCAR partner in a multiyear sponsorship commitment designating four Mars products as official NASCAR brands:

• M&M’s as Official Chocolate of NASCAR
• Snickers as Official Chocolate Bar of NASCAR
• Combos as Official Cheese-Filled Snack of NASCAR
• Pedigree as Official Pet Food of NASCAR

The multi-year partnership aligns Mars with its existing contracts with Joe Gibbs Racing, continuing a relationship that began in 2008, writes Retailer Daily.

For 2009, Mars will continue to develop programs that build relationships directly with NASCAR fans. Among the highlights:

• Now in its second year, M&M’s “The Most Colorful Fan of NASCAR Contest” will launch at the Daytona 500 and run for 24 weeks.
• For dog lovers, the Pedigree brand will launch a new contest, Pedigree Brand April, when the first of three cars sponsored by the Pedigree brand races at Talladega Superspeedway.
• Mars’ Combos Brand will also leverage its NASCAR sponsorship with the new “Man Zone” on-pack promotion, visiting 10 race tracks during the first half of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
• Snickers Brand will promote its sponsorship at retail stores nationwide.

While Mars has been involved in NASCAR for nearly 20 years—with a variety of Mars brands sponsoring various teams—the company officially teamed with the sport’s sanctioning body in 2003.

NASCAR is a sport at risk in terms of advertising because of the failing economy. Two NASCAR teams recently merged, citing the difficult economic climate; NASCAR has also said it will suspend all testing at its tracks next season to cut costs. GM recently severed its sponsorship of two NASCAR racetracks and has decided to not renew its partnership with the United States Olympic Committee at the end of its contract this year.