If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I despise stupid people that do stupid things and make stupid decisions.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here, not knowing every fact, but am gonna say that a ruling I just read about qualifies NASCAR for the Stupid Hall of Fame.

Jeremy Mayfield, a race car driver from Owensboro, Kentucky, was just suspended indefinitely for failing a drug test. Indefinitely.

Great. If I were driving around at 200 MPH, I wuldn’t want to be out there with a driver taking illegal drugs. Illegal is the operative word for today.

It seems that the drug in question might be Claritin-D.

That would be an over the counter drug for allegies and nasal congestion.

Duh! It’s freakin’ May 9th. It’s prime allergy season.

I’ve been using some of the same “drug” for the last 2 months so I could breath without sneezing, sniffling and snorting.

So have millions and millions of others.

We aren’t “druggies”.

But according to NASCAR’s substance abuse policy administrator, Dr. David Black, taking this drug could “…cause everything from a high heart rate to anxiety to a drastic change in body temperature. That would not be good for anybody driving,” he said.

Let’s see, we have professional race car drivers who go around a track at speeds over 200 MPH, while trying not to contact a concrete wall or another driver doing the same thing and he thinks that won’t give them a high heart rate or make them a wee bit anxious?

It’s well over 100 degrees on the surface of most race tracks and the temperatures inside the car are so extreme that they need to have cool air pumped inside the “firesuit” they wear and he’s concerned that they might have an elevated body temp?

Here’s the best part: there’s no appeal process.

They have basically said, it’s our ball, bounce it like we say or we’ll take it and go home to our Mommy.

They suspend a man, take away his livelyhood and they have no appeal process? Why would you play with them to begin with?

No appeal and for Mayfield to return to the sport he will have to follow a program determined by Black. Black said the program would included extensive and intensive tests from a health care professional that could be “…many, many months of participation in a treatment program. It’s going to be a period of time. It’s not going to be very fast.”

My thanks to ESPN.com, where I read this story and my thanks to NASCAR for being this freakin’ stupid and qualifying for the Stupid Hall of Fame.

Congrats!

I wish you continued luck selling this very flawed product to the corporate sponsors you depend on for your own livelyhood.

Related posts:

1. Tony Stewart Agrees With Me About NASCAR As much as I hate it, I have to agree...
2. Hey NASCAR … Ready To Listen To Your Customers Yet ? I’m over at the NYTimes reading the Sunday Edition like...
3. Coke Suing New Coke Commercial Is Beyond Stupid There’s only a very few times during the year that...
4. Soriano’s Way Of Thinking Is Simply Stupid I’ve been a baseball fan since before Alfonso Soriano was...

While out fighting the time vampires known as automotive repair shops, I came across this sign.

Apparently, those people that sell fireworks are doing things a wee bit differently than some of us.

Somehow, I’m thinking that there’s a reason their tables are empty.

Apparently, there was a massive group of people who wanted to pay $40 for things worth $20.

I only wish I could get them to opt-in to an email list of mine.

I’d love to send them daily emails offering them $20 for $40.

Every.Single.Day.

Does this happen where you live or is this phenomenon purely Kentuckian ?

Please tell me I’m not alone in this. Please.

Related posts:

1. Are Banks Wising Up ? Did anyone else happen to see the article in the...

You and I both know it’s true. Almost every CEO out there needs some to stand up and say, ” That’s stupid. ”

A stupidity detector, in other words. Someone who can’t be fired for telling the truth.

Someone who will not say yes, when the answer should be no.

If you’re like me, you’re a customer more than you’re a salesman. Every day, I buy from more people than I sell to.

Breakfast, coffee, newspaper, lunch, afternoon pick-me-up drink, such as a tea from Starbucks, dinner, range balls at the club, new shoes, micro-fiber shorts or slacks, new Tommy Bahama silk shirt off eBay, ink carts from Staples, razor blades, socks, etc.

Most of the CEO’s of these companies needed someone to tell them, ” That’s stupid “, when they came up with some of their policies, ad campaigns and slogans.

We, as a group, can come up with some help for these poor over-worked CEO’s who need a stupidity detector around to help them see thru the evil plans of some of the ad agencies that bring these stupid commercials to them for approval.

Someone to say ” Not a freakin’ chance ! “, when a graphic design company brings in some ugly-ass logo.

We can help them Just Say No to an idiotic slogan.

We can help them change some of the policies that say, ” We think you’re stupid ” to their customers.

How can we help ?

By blogging about every instance we find where a stupidity detector could have prevented the sad circumstances.

By writing a paper or creating an info-product of some kind detailing their needs for this new breed of corporate hero, hereafter called the VP of Stupidity Detection.

When you find an instance of need for us to guide the CEO of the offending company, send me the details and I’ll have our ownVP of Stupidity Detection, that would be me, contact them and offer his guiding hand in removing the offending circumstance.

You can post it on your own blog/site, you can comment or Trackback here, you can email me, whatever turns your wheels … Just Do It !

Related posts:

1. Great Book On Writing White Papers If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a great book...

One man and a cellphone completely disabled an entire sales organization for over 36 hours this week.

You knew cellphones were more powerful than they used to be, but you had no idea they had features like that, did you ?

I waited well over 36 hours earlier this week for a salesman to return my call.

I don’t usually wait that long, when I’m the customer, nor do I make people wait that long when the roles are reversed.

When this salesman called me back, too late to get the order, I asked him what took him so long.

Our sales manager switched our cellphone carrier and it took that long for the new carrier to pick up our service after the old one cut us off.

What ?! He did this on a Tuesday ?

You have got to be kidding me, that some knucklehead had the lack of common sense to do this on a Tuesday, instead of late on Friday … say around 6 PM, after the salesmen had all quit answering their phones for the week anyway.

If they had done it at 6 PM on Friday and it took the same 36 hours for the change to kick in, they would have started working around 6 AM on Sunday. They would have had another 24 hours or so to play with, just in case.

How can you cripple a travelling sales force like that ? No voicemail. No email. No phone … that works, that is.

Nothing but irate customers can come from a sillyass decision like that.

Simply, nothing.

Maybe I should have titled this post, ” If Goofy Was Your Sales Manager. “

Put this on your list of things you let other people do first to see if it will work or not.

Related posts:

1. Don’t Make This Mistake With Your Sales Force Okay, I admit it, I kinda started it, but I’d...
2. If Yoda Was Your Sales Manager   “Do or Don’t do … there is no try.”...
3. We Play Til The Whistle Blows … The title of this post ( and the image above)...
4. What Makes A Good Sales Contest ? What makes a good sales contest is no easier to...
5. Preparation Is The Key To Sales Success After another failed attempt to connect with a certain corporate...

There’s only a very few times during the year that I see commercials on a network channel. Now that the NCAA Tournament is on, I’ll have to suffer thru a few of them.

I just saw the one where Coke’s guys meet with a lawyer to talk to him/her about suing New Coke for infringement.

I’ve got problems with this puppy all around the dial, so I’ll just name a few and you can either straighten me out or help me.

I won’t care if you disagree, so help your self.

I won’t pay you if you agree, but feel free to.

The premise is stupid. Incredibly stupid.

It just makes me feel that Coke’s people think we’re dumb and dumber. By approving that ad, they showed how little they think of our sensibilities. They also showed how dumb they are.

If you’re the one that approved that ad, turn in your executive washroom keys, pack your bags and go home.

If you’re the one’s that created that ad, lock the doors on your firm, go home and find some other line of work.

It’s another bad product, like New Coke was … only worse.

Why is it worse ? Because you’ve already made this mistake once.

Remember New Coke ? I do … barely. Bombs away !

You’re making the same mistakes that are killing the American automobile manufacturers. You’re cannibalizing your own sales and products.

Check this scenario out:

Years ago there was the Buick Skylark, the Olds Cutlass and the Chevy Chevelle.

Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth did it too.

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury were also guilty.

Same car, different name. One company selling against themselves.

Good things don’t always come in threes. Remember that.

Does Toyota do that ? Nope. They make one car per class and make it really good.

Hmmm. Wonder why they don’t compete against themselves. The Japanese marketing schools must not teach it. Neither should ours.

Marketing is supposed to sell the product, not try to win awards.

If you’ve got a humongus ad budget, do not, I repeat, DO NOT award it to anybody that uses stupidity in place of expertise, imagination, creativity or skill.

It’s your money. spend it trying to sell or promote your product to interested people. Do not allow an ad company to spend it trying to win awards for their firm.

Enough is enough.

The dumbing down of America has to stop … now.

PS – You’re welcome Coke, for all the hits this’ll get for you on your YouTube video.

Related posts:

1. Pepsi and Coke Kicked Bud Light’s Butt During The Super Bowl Just in case you weren’t watching, Bud Light had the...
2. NASCAR Qualifies For Stupid Hall of Fame If you’ve read this blog for any length of time,...
3. Soriano’s Way Of Thinking Is Simply Stupid I’ve been a baseball fan since before Alfonso Soriano was...
4. Warning ! Really Stupid Salespeople Ahead ! What would you think of customer service like this ?...
5. Tag Lines Can Make Or Break Your Advertising I remember several great advertising tag lines: Don’t squeeze the...