How Marcus Ericsson was sponsored in Indy 500 by firm whose product you can't buy in USA or Canada
Huski Chocolate recently hit the jackpot in the corporate sponsorship lottery when Marcus Ericsson drove the car wrapped nose to tail in their logo to victory in the Indianapolis 500.
And what better product to market to the five million Americans watching the race than the “world’s fastest hot chocolate,” available in an iced protein-infused version, replete with corporate responsibility, and also endorsed by top athletes from around the world.
Just one problem – they don’t sell the stuff in North America.
It’s certainly been an interesting week for the Huski social media team, who have had to suddenly interact with a whole bunch of new followers in the New World, with nothing to offer them except a promise of “coming soon!” (hopefully).
And also the need to address a group of fairly confused Scandinavians looking at a Twitter account proudly adorned with “Chip Ganassi Racing” and a bio stating “FUELING THE 2022 INDY 500 CHAMPION”.
Following the online post-race celebration, the Huski team started off by addressing their local followers, retweeting Swedish novelist and racing fan Anton Berg, who attempted to explain in his native language why it was Ericsson, not the Monaco GP winner, who was at the pinnacle of motorsports that day.
And then the questions from America started coming in ,,,
“Where can I find this Husky Chocolat you speak of?”
“I have been contacting @HuskiChocolate for a couple of years asking when it will be available in the U.S. Still waiting!!”
“I wanna try it. Can I order it from you?
It was at this point, the Huski twitter guys made their first announcement (of sorts):
“Hang on for a couple of days more, we might have some good news in a very near future…”
And to follow up, they attempted to put a double line under the situation:
“Due to the massive amount of requests we’ve had in the last couple of days we want to inform you all that as of now, we do not sell our chocolate in the US.
"Although, we’re working on it, and follow us on SoMe, and hopefully within a soon future, we will have some good news.”
They seemed to agree with one person’s analysis of the usefulness of their marketing strategy:
This is LITERALLY why a company outside of the states would sponsor a driver in the Indy 500, congrats you have hit THE sponsorship JACKPOT my friends, now go forth and distribute that sucka
Replying to @TheGlenBird:
Canadian IndyCar fans got in the act as well:
“Once you start selling in the US, do you think you could sell in Canada as well?”
Replying to @syrbos:
“If not, we’re making a big mistake…”
So, while Huski is unlikely to get taken up on their recent suggestion to add chocolate milk as an option for the Indy 500 victory celebration, it just may be an option for fans if their favorite driver can make a return to victory circle next year.
Unfortunately for one anxious fan, it won’t be an option for attendees of Ericsson’s next performance at Belle Isle or any other IndyCar race going forward this year.
But to use one of the sport's world's best cliches ... maybe wait 'til next year?
We can only hope.