Marketing
Sharpie sponsored the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500, a popular night-time race at Bristol Motor Speedway, from 2001 through 2009. For the 2010 season, Newell Rubbermaid switched the sponsorship for this race to its Irwin Tools brand. Sharpie sponsored the Nationwide Series Sharpie Mini 300 race from 2004 to 2008. Prior to 2006, they sponsored Kurt Busch, who was the 2004 Sprint Cup champion. Sharpie also sponsored Jamie McMurray in the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
In recent years, Sharpie commercials have followed the slogan "Write Out Loud". These advertisements depict people using Sharpies in bad situations, such as using the marker to touch up a car and a college woman highlighting words in a book to notify a male student that his fly was open. Also, a middle aged woman trying to think of what to write for her resignation letter, writes "I QUIT" with a red Sharpie. Los Angeles Galaxy association football star David Beckham is sponsored by Sharpie and appears in a commercial signing autographs with a Sharpie and trying to steal them.
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