“Well folks, we’re losing the 18-35 male demographic. And do you know what’s killing us?” Brian France, CEO of NASCAR, directed his question to the rest of the board of directors.
“Football?”
“Baseball?”
“No. ‘My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic’ is absolutely slaughtering us in the ratings.”
The boardroom went silent in shock before the executives burst into laughter one by one.
“Oh, that’s a good one, boss!”
“I’m dead serious. This show for little girls has apparently managed to attract an adult male fanbase known as bronies and we’re going to tap into that,” replied France, a look of cold determination on his face.
“How do you propose we do that?”
“I’m thinking we’ll test the waters with a few special paint schemes. Maybe we can do a tie-in with their season finale and feature each of the main characters on the hoods of a few cars.”
“Dale Earnhardt is probably rolling over in his grave at that thought.”
“Great idea, we’ll get Dale Earnhardt Junior to drive one of the cars. Okay people, let’s do this. Get Junior, Hendrick Motorsports, and whoever owns My Little Pony on the phones and make it happen!”
As the rest of the executives left the meeting, most were shaking their heads and grumbling. Of all the recent changes meant to fix the declining viewership, this was by far the worst suggestion. The only thing NASCAR and My Little Pony had in common were the bright colors adorning their respective cars and equines.
Rick Hendrick sighed and knocked on the door of NASCAR’s most popular driver’s RV. There was no way he would ever agree to this. So he was going to have to trick him and hope for the best. Junior opened the door and ushered his car owner inside.
“Pick a color: blue, pink, orange, purple, white, or yellow.”
“Uh, I guess white. Why?”
“Special paint job for the Las Vegas race. There are six options and you get first pick.”
“Sounds good to me,” Junior replied as Rick left the recreational vehicle. He propped his feet up, cracked open another beer and didn’t give it another thought.