Traditionally the Daytona 500 has stood for the number of miles run in the Great American Race. This year, it seemed like that number stood for the amount of commercials Fox aired during the race. NASCAR, more than any other sport, is dominated by sponsorships and advertising but it this year’s edition took it to obscene levels.
If it wasn’t commercial breaks constantly interrupting the action, it was weird native advertising awkwardly dumped into the broadcast. That included confusing Aflac spots where the announcers said the truck was ordering a commercial break, but they in fact stayed at the track. What followed was taking time away from the race to show the backs of the announcers with a whiteboard in the booth. At least that was a little more sly than the empty buckets of KFC next to Chris Myers in the studio. I actually thought a narwhal won the race given I saw more of them than the actual drivers.
NASCAR fans made their displeasure known. As always, these are Real Tweets from Real People…
Less than 15 laps at Daytona. Then commercials sheesh #reallynascar
— Ben Lynch (@dbl621) February 22, 2015
is @fox trying to break record for number commercials for daytona?
— Pookha the nomad (@pookhahare) February 22, 2015
@awfulannouncing Someone should keep up with how many minutes of commercials vs racing @NASCARONFOX this daytona is unwatchable b/c of ads
— Rick Decker (@1750agreed) February 22, 2015
It's great that FOX interjects occasional Daytona 500 coverage in between all of the commercials. I mean, GEEEEZZZ.
— Tim May (@TIM_MAYsports) February 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/KevinGehlWLNS/status/569608690405212160
https://twitter.com/supert0nes/status/569600753620267008
Hey Fox! Unlike the super bowl, we don't watch the #Daytona500 for the commercials! So many commercials! Wait, no its another commercial
— Bentoboxx (@bentoboxx) February 22, 2015
Hey! Why is Fox interrupting the commercials with this race stuff? #NASCAR
— Doug Demmons (@dougdemmons) February 22, 2015
This year’s Daytona 500 Recap:
Commercial
Caution flag
Commercial
Disguised Aflac ad
Commercial
Chris Myers spot with an empty KFC bucket.— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/phillipbupp/status/569606626929352704
@awfulannouncing Seriously, I'm not going to complain about the number of commercial breaks in the NFL ever again.
— Chris Berez (@chrisberez) February 22, 2015
@awfulannouncing have they even shown any live racing ? This is as bad as remember any race coverage
— ? (@Taterz1021) February 22, 2015
https://twitter.com/Jenelle_Beaver/status/569608800518443010
But at least there was one bright spot in all of the ads, and that came from Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s new sponsor…
https://twitter.com/DoctorGooFee/status/569608569026293760
