Office monkeys and cola? NASCAR sticks to its stars

While viewers of the Super Bowl this Sunday will be treated during ad breaks to talking babies, Dalmatians and Clydesdales (and probably a monkey or two because who doesn't love primates with working digits, particularly in office situations mocking hapless junior-level executives?), they likely won't notice very many football players.

Just one NFL star appeared in a Super Bowl spot last year.

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Contrast that to NASCAR's marquee event, the Daytona 500. During the FOX telecast of the Great American Race on Feb. 17, the athletes dominate virtually every ad break. In fact, last year, 27 NASCAR drivers starred in new sponsor ads running during the Daytona 500, according to professor Max Utsler of the University of Kansas, who actually counted. Expect the same in about three weeks.

"There is as much NASCAR in the Super Bowl spots as football in the Super Bowl spots," Utsler said. "Last year, Don Shula was the only football personality in a Super Bowl ad, and he only got as much face time as Dale Jr. singing about how he was going to buy a Chevrolet. NASCAR drivers and/or cars appeared in 46 percent of the 2007 Daytona 500 spots."

This helps make the FOX telecast TiVo-proof. NASCAR fans are less likely to channel surf during ad breaks. For the 2007 Daytona 500, 95 percent of fans stayed tuned to the race during commercial breaks, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Does this make the Daytona 500 a better ad platform than the Super Bowl?

To go that far, I'd truly be smoking the proverbial exhaust -- without a filter. Outside of a beautifully contrived, semi-tragic celebrity mega event -- maybe O.J. Simpson car-chasing Britney Spears (with Lindsay Lohan escaped from rehab in the back seat) -- marketers just can't get an audience as big as the Super Bowl.

The NFL has done a scary-brilliant job creating a hype machine feeding on itself. A CBS special, The Making of the Behind the Scenes of the Making of the Best Super Bowl Ads of All Time Hosted by Pat O'Brien, can't be far off.

But the Daytona 500 does draw tens of millions of viewers. And there's something to be said for fans seeing their favorite athletes in the commercials during breaks in the action. They stay tuned in. Bladders may be injured.

This year more driver-centric campaigns will break. Fans can get a sneak peak the morning of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 when NASCAR.COM showcases the commercials on the race telecast. Fans can download and vote for their favorite Daytona 500 spot.

It's not exactly lizards and office monkeys. And you won't see the GoDaddy Girl (as the daddy of a 12-year-old city girl now surfing the Web, after seeing that spot, the only place I want to go is to www.shotgunsforsale.com).

But NASCAR fans will probably like the new crop of driver commercials just fine. And maybe one day Pat O'Brien will look at how the Great American Race has also become a Great American Marketing Event. He can shoot his highly-anticipated special, The Inside Story of The Bloopers from the Making of the Behind the Scenes of the Daytona 500 Ads Presented by GoDaddy.com.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.