Artigo Revisado por pares

The Politics of NASCAR Dads: Branded Media Paternity

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07393180701520942

ISSN

1529-5036

Autores

Mary Douglas Vavrus,

Tópico(s)

American Political and Social Dynamics

Resumo

Abstract The figure of the NASCAR dad emerged in the 2002 and 2004 campaign seasons to signal the importance of white, male Southern voters to politicians and their political parties. Analysis of television news coverage of NASCAR dads shows that it privileges patriarchal masculinity, the Republican Party, and corporate consumerism—all of which were propelled to high visibility by the NASCAR Corporation's place in these stories. Television news produces NASCAR dads as an “emotional brand,” a population of citizen-consumers representing the appropriation of patriotism, Christianity, and fatherhood, deployed in a politically conservative fashion. Keywords: MasculinityBrandingPolitical CommunicationTV NewsNASCAR Acknowledgements The author thanks the audiences at Gustavus Adolphus College, the University of Maryland, and Penn State University who heard parts of this manuscript, as well as Steve Jahn, Michael Mackey, Matt McAllister, Linda Steiner, and the two anonymous reviewers. Notes 1. Popp (Citation2005) argues that NASCAR's cultural prominence is a sign that the once-regional politics of the South have become representative of conservative politics—and the Republican Party—overall. 2. Neither Wallace nor Earnhardt followed up on the racial codes in displaying a “rebel” flag, although the current CEO of NASCAR, Brian France, claimed on 60 Minutes (October 9, 2005) to work every day to increase the number of minority men and women associated with the sport. Despite this, both NASCAR audiences and drivers are overwhelmingly white. 3. Turow (Citation1997, p. 269) defines a window as a conduit for media commodity distribution. For General Electric and NBC-Universal, NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC are all windows; in this case, they distribute to both broadcast and cable audiences, thus permitting this corporation's programs to move easily across media boundaries. 4. Like the NFL's Superbowl broadcasts, Nextel Cup broadcasts command large sums for advertising: a 30-second spot during the 2007 Daytona 500—broadcast on Fox—cost up to $500,000 (TMZ staff, Citation2007). 5. The primary purpose of the United States’ public diplomacy office of the State Department is to brand the United States internationally as a benevolent force. 6. However, New York Times culture editor Frank Rich (Citation2004) argued that reporters’ gleeful pursuit of NASCAR dad stories was a case of pursuing an audience rather than a story. 7. Evidence abounds of NASCAR inspiring consumer loyalty. For example, at one race, Sports Illustrated writer Jeff McGregor met two men who brought him to their RV, parked in the infield. The RV was decorated from top to bottom with the Tide detergent logo and colors, and sported a large jug of Tide turned upside down on the top of the flagpole. The men told McGregor that, rather than supporting a driver, “We root the logo” (McGregor, Citation2005, p. 150). 8. McGregor (Citation2005, pp. 363–364) estimates that operating a competitive car requires at least $20 million from a primary sponsor—supplemented with even more from subordinate sponsors. 9. Illogically enough, a number of newscasts I reviewed contained references to NASCAR dads as both swing voters and as likely Republicans (e.g., ABC, This Week, February 15, 2004; CNN, Live From …, December 2, 2003; NBC, Today, February 13, 2004). 10. Reporters’ harsh treatment of Deborah Renshaw (for a brief time a driver in the Busch Series), documented by Sloop (Citation2005), probably discouraged other female drivers from NASCAR competition. Additional informationNotes on contributorsMary Douglas Vavrus Mary Douglas Vavrus is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota

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