Shell’s Hot and New Motor Racing Tipping competition not so hot and new after all
10/2/2000 23:53 (Shane Rogers) - The V8Supercar Pick 10 project is fuming following a press release from Shell announcing a new V8Supercar tipping competition at http://www.shellseries.com.au. The press release claimed that their new competition was an “exciting new concept”, when there has already been a V8Supercar tipping competition on the Internet for three years.
“It’s utter garbage,” says V8Supercar Pick 10 project coordinator, Shane Rogers. “I can only assume that Shell’s marketing people have just been beamed from outer space. It’s either that, or they have intentionally stole our concept.”
“Our web site has been listed in Australian Auto Action and Motorsport News, and is more popular in terms of hits than 75% of V8Supercar team web sites.”
“We are the original V8Supercar tipping competition. Everybody knows who we are and what we do. We would like to notify our supporters that Shell are not associated with us in any way. The original V8Supercar Pick 10 is still at http://v8sp10.nectar.com.au, and is still their premier independent resource for V8Supercar information on the Internet.”
“It’s like comparing New Millenium AUSCARS to V8Supercars, if you want a ‘lightweight’ tipping competition, then the Shell Series web site is for you. We think that V8Supercar fans would prefer the challenge of the original competition.”
“There’s no way in the world that they couldn’t have known we were here. Claiming it’s a new concept is an absolute joke. Not even we claim that the V8SP10 is a new concept!” – Rogers added.
The EA Sports/Nectar Online Services V8Supercar Pick 10 tipping competition (located at http://v8sp10.nectar.com.au/) was started in 1997, and is beginning it’s fourth season with a 120% growth rate in entries for the first event compared with the same time last year.
The V8Supercar Pick 10 was based on the successful Formula 1 Pick 6 (F1P6) competition that started on the Internet in 1988, three years before the advent of the World Wide Web.
Rogers continued with his assault on the oil giant’s unoriginal marketing scheme. “We would not be surprised if this is a blatant rip-off of our successful web site. We recently sent a sponsorship proposal to Shell Helix Racing, and got no response. Obviously they liked the idea so much they decided to copy it. We wish them all the best on their next project, copying whatever project we decide to do next!”
“It seems like they built it in a hurry, they haven’t thought about their rules much at all,” he added.
The Shell Series Tipping Competition point scoring system is “simpler” than the V8Supercar Pick 10 system, but will result in more tied scores. “There is no mention on how they are going to separate these”, said Rogers. “You also get the same amount of points for picking fifth correct as first, work that one out…”
“Additionally, they state that entry lists will not be posted for endurance races until driver combinations are confirmed. There’s no way they can do that, the V8Supercar rules state that any team can change their drivers up to 12:00pm on Saturday before the race.”
The project coordinator also raised concerns about other aspects of the competition. “We can understand them asking for name and address, but why would they want your demographics, like age, sex, and so on? I’ve already been added to a Shell Marketing mailing list via the Internet once, I’m not making that mistake again. If you’re not in it, you can’t win it, but you won’t get any unwanted mail either! The V8SP10 will never use private details on our participants for anything other than V8SP10 business.”
The V8Supercar Pick 10 project is a non-profit web site which features the latest news, team profiles, and statistics on V8Supercar racing, including the V8Supercar Pick 10 tipping competition. The web site is sponsored by EA Sports and Nectar Online Services, and can be found at http://v8sp10.nectar.com.au.
Media Contact:
Shane Rogers
E-mail: v8sp10@nectar.com.au, interviews can be arranged.
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