UPS Reveals New NASCAR Ad Campaign

NASCAR rising star David Ragan won’t be racing the “big brown truck" this year, but he will be learning what it takes to be a UPS driver in a humorous new television advertising campaign UPS launches this weekend as part of its revamped racing program.

The four-spot series, which was produced by The Martin Agency, will feature Ragan competing with UPS drivers in various extreme physical challenges to determine who will earn the title of “Maximum Driver." The first spot will be broadcast on FOX on Sunday, April 5, during the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, but a special preview will be available on Friday afternoon, April 3, at www.racing.ups.com.

Ragan made his UPS Racing debut at the Daytona 500 in February, at which time a new television ad introducing him to the UPS team began running that featured Ragan driving his No. 6 Ford Fusion through UPS corporate headquarters. The “Maximum Driver" series will go beyond the introduction, with Ragan facing several unique and potentially harrowing challenges as he goes toe-to-toe with some of UPS’s elite delivery professionals.

The “Maximum Driver" campaign follows UPS’s immensely popular “Race the Truck" commercials featuring NASCAR legend Dale Jarrett, who represented UPS Racing for nearly eight years.

“That campaign became a favorite of NASCAR fans everywhere and it did a great deal to help us establish a strong presence in the sport," said Ron Rogowski, UPS director of sponsorships. “This campaign is a fresh approach to promoting our NASCAR involvement and it has some creative marketing muscle behind it."

After the Samsung 500, the three remaining spots will be revealed sequentially throughout the 2009 racing season.

“I’m really excited about the new commercials and I think NASCAR fans are going to love them, too," said Ragan. “The ads are extremely funny, but they still manage to convey UPS’s core strengths of service, dedication and reliability."