I have been curious of late with the NASCAR/Oakley relationship. I have been searching for info and came across this about Brian Vickers. Apparently he likes Dartboard's, are these not womens glasses? They are listed on women side of O.com, not mens.




Kinda of hard to read, but it quotes:
"The Dartboard is the current model of choice for Brian Vickers! It perfectly combines the sport and style looks into one awesome design engineered for medium faces..."


What other NASCAR models are there out currently?

JPM Splice and Spike ( not NASCAR yet)
Kenseth Splice
Stewart Valve
Kahne Fives 3.0
Labonte M-Frames
Wallace M-Frames

IMHO, they keep their relationship under wraps for good reason. The NASCAR crowd is not really the core audience Oakley is going for and while it would sell a ton of glasses, they risk to much in openly endorcing the sport. Maybe I'm biased because of where I live, but NASCAR is looked at as very "White Trash" around here.

I don't know if I agree with you here Bill. Why would Oakley want to hide its involvement with the fastest growing spectator sport in the States? I think we'll see more and more Oakley/Nascar collaborations. I would wager that "White trash" spend a LOT more money on Oakley than the upper crust of society. Myself excluded of course.

Oh I totally agree that its a huge audience of whom Oakley would benefit greatly from having, but I would venture to guess that it also differs greatly from the premium brand name Oakley is trying to establish itself as. Lets jut say that I doubt you'd ever see a Tony Stewart Oakley add in anything but a NASCAR mag where as you may see a Shuan White or Ricky Charmichael add in GQ.

I say dance with who brought ya, and it wasn't the GQ-reading yuppie's that put Oakley in the position it is today. But, perhaps you are right. Maybe Oakley will play down it's poplularity and support of Nascar in an effort to win over the white collars of the world, but I don't think Jim thinks that way. I see him more at home at the Brickyard 400 than the Polo Club. Who's with me here?

Not so much yuppies I think Rick, but the kinda people that spend $350 on a pair of sunglasses and $1200 on a watch. I think I'm validated by the fact that Oakley doesnt have a sponsered NASCAR team yet. It seems well in their realm to do so. Jim and Oakley seem more interested in the NHRA.

You wanna go me Rosenzweig? LOL

Come get a taste!

....er else go back to yer trailer and tailgate with yer cousin bubba, ya hillbilly. lol-anyone else wanna tango?

Perhaps they're quietly ramping up to capture the Euro trash market with the addition of JPM next year

Seriously, where's Rickybobby when you need him? I hope more international drivers start making the switch. It will broaden the sports appeal.

NASCAR is seemingly seen as a trailer trash sport by the general public, but motorsports is where Oakley seems to want to be, so it's a good fit. I like the sig series colourways so far, so I'd like to see more.

NASCAR has come a long way from the days when every car was sponsored by a motor oil company or a gas company. freaken Jeff Gordon is a TAG Heuer shill.

not exactly a sponsor you'd associate with NASCAR if you didn't know better. of course, TAG also sponsors Kimi Raikkonen. Not nearly as recognizable as Jeff Gordon.

I agree with Oak that Oakley is really pushing the Motorsports angle, and NASCAR is the biggest motorsport in the US.

As for the Dartboard, I can clearly remember James Stewart being one of the first models for it (Neil's store in Orlando has an entire wall with the pic blown up onto it). There are even two versions of the DB, one regular, and one with the Script logo and no rubber on the stems.

Yeah, people come in all the time to get their picture taken "with Bubba", who is wearing Polished Black/Black Iridium DBs in it.

FWIW, I don't think Oakley makes a conscious effort to hide its NASCAR involvement. Hell, they provided the eyewear for Talladega Nights. I think the difference here is that NASCAR fans really don't need Oakley to advertise to them. They're going to buy the product anyway, because good ol' boys are perhaps more brand-loyal than any other demographic. Just ask Nik how many truck manufacturers he'd even consider buying. For the market segment that the print ads are usually aimed at, brands can easily be out of sight/out of mind, and you have to keep hammering home the idea that "Brand X (in this case, our beloved O) is still cool".

There's another point here: Oakley just doesn't bother advertising. I'd venture to say that no major consumer products manufacturer in the United States spends a lower percentage of its revenue on advertising. When was the last time you heard an Oakley radio ad? Didn't think so. Saw a print ad? Perhaps one or two in the last month, A TV spot? You won't have, unless it was the RazrWire ad which was paid for by Cingular anyway.

Very well put Neil, and right on target.

Yeah I'd go with that theory too Neil given Oakley's track record in marketing.

sidenote: I thought Talladega nights had all no-name glasses. I was lookin for Oakley (as always) and saw none.

At the grocery store across the street theres a giant standee for Vitamin Water with a supersized pic of Kasey Kahne wearing polished/polarized Fat Cats.

So back to the original post, does that include all of the glasses for NASCAR currently?

That's all I can come up with.

I didn't see Talladega Nights, Bill (can't stand Will Ferrell), but we got a memo that said all the eyewear was being provided by Oakley.

Guess I'll have to watch it now.

Don't.

Blasphemy both of you. The movie is NASCAR's Zoolander.

Worst movie ever. I thought nothing would surpass "Eyes Wide Shut" for the title, but Ricky Bobby didn't disappoint. Walked out 20 minutes into it.

Worse than Pearl Harbor, even?

Happy to say I didn't see that one, so I couldn't do the comparison.

taladega nights was pretty funny. I wasnt really into Oakleys yet when I watched it but that movie made me laugh more than BORAT