Why Do So Many Business Leaders Deliberately Insult Their Customers? Even NASCAR!

We see it over and over again. Leaders of successful companies serving the general public suddenly decide to insult their customers by going politically correct, only to reap the whirlwind. Two relatively recent examples are Anheuser-Busch, which managed to largely destroy their most popular Bud Light brand, and Gillette, whose "toxic masculinity” ad was a disaster. Why do some corporate executives choose so poorly?

The answer, of course, is something any kindergarten teacher could give. It's peer pressure. Human nature is such that we are vulnerable to it. So are our corporate executives, most of whom also have spouses or significant others who are subject to it as well. We all want to appear honorable among our peers, and when political correctness becomes the norm, it substitutes for honor. It's that simple. Plus, there's money involved, of course. More on that in a moment.

And, now we're seeing it happen again with NASCAR, of all businesses as this MSN story indicates:

…As another year of high-speed racing comes to a wrap, there is a massive update NASCAR has. At the Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR introduced a electric version of the Next-Gen car.

Although the innovative approach is one of its kind, it seems as though the fans have not quite taken it in the right way. Motorsports, with its roaring engines and high-octane fuel, has often seemed at odds with eco-friendly trends. However, this shift in the traditional NASCAR engine and the roaring audio heart-thumping experience has aggravated fans for sure. 

NASCAR had been making attempts to shift to a greener approach. In this effort, they collaborated with none other than ABB, a global leader. It comes to the world of electrification and has great experience in the field as well. It has become the first official partner with NASCAR to strengthen the attempts for electrification and make a difference with sustainable efforts. The prototype which was released at the Chicago Street Race is now in full swing and was unveiled at none other than the Phoenix Raceway…

However, fans did not find this initiative quite amusing. This could be primarily because of the shift in the traditional engine sound which evokes a sense of nostalgia for all the fans. Given that most of the motorsport ventures already moved ahead in terms of the electric vehicle venture, a fan mentioned, “It’s funny how NASCAR announced an EV Next Gen concept the same year the majority of the auto industry decided to give up on EVs and shift focus on Hybridization.”

…As these are driven by electricity, there is a subsided tone to the cars as well which takes away the traditional delight. The screeching sound of the car could be a major deterrent and has the potential to ruin the experience. The heart of NASCAR always has been about the cars and their engines. Nothing packs a punch like a V8…

The concept of electric cars and the future it holds, particularly in the field of motorsports, looks bleak to a lot of people. At its heart, the NASCAR series came to life when bootleggers began using Ford’s V-8 engines. A jump to an electric car could be seen as losing the core of what birthed NSACAR…

However, this is not all. The entire project looks at billions of dollars as an investment. Given that NASCAR is already in a battle with teams over revenue sharing, some fans find this investment amusing. Taking account into the financial discrepancy, a fan mentioned, “Instead of paying teams a justifiable portion of revenue this is what the money is spent on 🤡”.  Another fan made a bold decision that this shift is not needed at all. The fan said,“Thanks I Hate It”. Although the efforts of opting in for a more sustainable approach can be commendable it seems as though fans are just not ready to embrace the same. 

The ultimate aim of this venture was to ensure that the carbon footprint emitted from traditional NASCAR engines could be replaced with a greener approach.

Here is a video offering some pros and cons as to the idea:

There are lots of cons, starting with the lack of noise, which is integral to the racing culture. The biggest problem, though, is basic lack of popularity. This is a project intended to deliver political correctness while insultiing fans. Dana White, though, says it's about developing a new NASCAR series and he's a smart man and ally of President-Elect Trump.

So, as Trump likes to say, we'll have to see what happens. Right now NASCAR fans aren't impressed and things aren't off to a particularly good start. It's never good when you insult customers and fans by trying to lead them to something they don't want. That's because you're proving its all about you, not them.

#Emissions #BusinessLeaders #NASCAR #EVs #Racing #PoliticalCorrectness #Customers #Fans