Fast cars and superstars make for reality TV, Part 1

As Larry McReynolds is wont to say, "it's time to reach up there and pull those belts tight," because during the month of June, it's going to be a wild, wild ride.

Beginning June 7, ABC will present the latest reality TV series -- and the first based on NASCAR -- when it airs the first of seven episodes of Fast Cars & Superstars -- The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race.

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Twelve celebrity stars, including actor William Shatner, singer Jewel, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, strap themselves in behind the wheel of a real NASCAR stock car to compete against each other and the clock.

On the flip side, the Gillette Young Guns, including Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards and newcomer Kasey Kahne, will be tutoring the celebs in a competition to see who has what it takes in making racing superstars out of superstars from other disciplines.

The idea stemmed from Gillette's popular Young Guns advertising spots, and BBDO out of New York took on the challenge of making the short commercials and their speedy stars into a full-fledged reality TV happening.

Kenny Mayne, former host of ESPN's racing studio show, and former NBA great Brad Daugherty, a NASCAR car owner and ESPN broadcaster, are the hosts for the series, which ends with an hour-long show where the celebrities compete against each other.

Al Merrin, vice-chairman and executive creative director for BBDO New York, said the operating theory behind the creation of such a program was experiential.

"If you step back a little bit to a challenge we got from our CEO to create newsmaking for our brands outside the TV box, Proctor & Gamble and Gillette were interested in doing branding that was more emotional and experiential," Merrin said. "We presented several ideas, and one of the ideas that kept emerging as something different and special was to create the Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race.

"It's very difficult to create a TV show in that, no matter how ingenious you are, in the end, it still feels like a sponsorship," Merrin explained. "With the Gillette Young Guns equity, we had the chance to create a show where the brand was integral to the show; it couldn't be separated from it. The Young Guns are a great property that we've done great commercials with and who have great personalities that we thought it would be fun to pair up with celebrities to learn how to race and finally, compete in races." (Continued)