CONTACT: Melissa Slagle 303-867-6306 mslagle@beefboard.org
BEEF TAKES THE CHECKERED FLAG FOR MONSTER MILE PROMOTION
Beef checkoff and NASCAR partnership takes NAMA award.
(CENTENNIAL, Colo.) – Remember the “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner” blimp seen towering above the Dover International Speedway June 1-3, 2007? Remember the day when more than 135,000 race spectators gathered at what’s known in NASCAR circles as “The Monster Mile” and proved they love beef? Remember the effort coordinated by the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, a project of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, the Spring Race Weekend that aimed to help strengthen the connection between beef and NASCAR fans, the nation’s fastest growing sport fan-base?
If you remember the monster-sized checkoff initiative, then you know the event that was recently named winner in the Region 6 Best of NAMA (National Agri-Marketing Association) contest, Public Relations category.
“This award is just another testimony of work being done in the northeast as a result of checkoff dollars,” says Emilie Miller, Director of Retail & Foodservice Relations for the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI) in Middletown, Penn. “The NASCAR campaign is just a small part of NEBPI’s overarching goal of increasing awareness about the beef checkoff and also encouraging consumers to regain their love of beef, resulting in increased beef demand for our producers. We’re pleased NAMA has recognized our efforts and hope producers continue to see their checkoff dollars in motion at events such as these.”
Last year, the NEBPI Boston Marathon event also received this regional recognition from NAMA. Beef hopes to take this year’s award one lap further and have a seat among the winners at the National Best of NAMA awards presentation in Kansas City, Mo., on April 16.
It was a promotion of monster proportion…a race for beef producers and hungry race fans alike…and when the checkered flag dropped, beef was declared the winner!
For more information, visit www.beefboard.org.
The NEBPI, a program of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, was established to extend the reach of checkoff dollars throughout the Northeast. Consumers, retailers and foodservice operators now have full-time support staff available to partner and participate in events, promotions and programs that are designed to increase beef demand throughout the region.
The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) is the nation's largest professional association for professionals in marketing and agribusiness. For more information, visit www.nama.org.
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
# # #