Citizen Brand

Happy 100th Indy 500

Everyone loves NASCAR now. But count me as one of those racing fans that still loves Memorial Day weekend every year because of the Indianapolis 500. This Sunday marks the 100th running of the Indy 500 and it is still the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Unfortunately, the Indy racing brand did itself in many years ago when there was a split among drivers and two different organizations fought for years over who was the rightful "owners" of the Indy brand. Meanwhile, the NASCAR juggernaut was emerging and being strictly administered by one family. That perfect storm led to where we are today with NASCAR and its legion of loyalists moving around the country week after week in the racing spotlight.  Indy racing was simply overpowered.

But it has survived.  Some of the internal battles have become history and a few new faces like Danica Patrick and Helio Castroneves have breathed some life back into Indy racing. And make no mistake, when Memorial Day weekend rolls around, the Indy 500 is the king of racing.

So here is a toast to 100 years of thrills and spills at the great 2.5 mile oval in the middle of Indiana. Gentlemen and Lady, start your engines!

Teens behind the Wheel

More teens die in car crashes than any other single cause of death. 5,000 per year. The Ad Council just released a new campaign aimed at curbing teenage reckless driving. The campaign is in concert with Attorneys General around the country and was developed by Y&R/NY.

The key thrust behind the "Speak Up or Else"  campaign is peer to peer pressure empowering teens to say something to friends who aren't driving safe. People do listen to their friends. Friends just have to be willing to step up. In fact, a survey tells us that eight in 10 teens will alter their driving behavior if a friend tells them they are uncomfortable with the way they are driving.

Click here to check out a news release as well as some of the campaign elements. Social media is a big play as you would expect with any campaign targeted to teens as well as more traditional elements. Check out this widget you can embed which contains all elements of the campaign. A great PSA plays when you click on it here. Tell the teens in your life about this campaign.

Honda answers IBM

We didn't have to wait long to see which other global corporation would step up to help our planet.  Thanks to Jack Yan for telling us about Honda and the hydrogen car.