Title Sponsor
In 1990, the contest became one of the earliest college bowl games to use a title sponsor, becoming the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl. (The name gave rise to the term Weedwhacker Bowl, which is sometimes used to refer to a second-rank bowl game, especially by fans of top-ranked teams who expect their squads to compete in BCS contests.) Although it has been many years since Poulan Weed-Eater has been a sponsor, many still use their name when referring to this bowl.
Poulan (then a division of AB Electrolux Home Products, now Husqvarna AB) sponsored the game until 1996. Newell Rubbermaid's Sanford brand of writing products took over sponsorship from 1998 until 2000, while MainStay Investments sponsored from 2001 to 2003. In January 2005, in what was widely perceived as a publicity stunt, the Deja Vu chain of "gentlemen's clubs" offered to become the title sponsor. The offer was rejected.
The Independence Bowl's three-year search for a title sponsor ended on August 21, 2006 when PetroSun Inc., a Phoenix, Arizona-based company that provides services and products to suppliers of oil and gas, agreed to become the bowl's sponsor. The deal, changing the game's full name to the PetroSun Independence Bowl, was to have run through 2008 with an option for 2009; however the deal was discontinued prior to the 2008 game.
On May 21, 2009, AdvoCare became the fifth title sponsor since the bowl's inception. The bowl was then renamed the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl. The new title sponsor makes energy drinks and nutritional supplements sold through multilevel marketing.
Read more about this topic: Independence Bowl
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