NASCAR Our sponsorship of Kurt Busch and the NASCAR Nextel Cup #97 team provides incredible exposure in the fastest growing spectator sport in America, with over 10 million race-goers annually. Our car and team sponsorship are seen 36 weekends a year at the track and on television. An exciting dimension of our NASCAR sponsorship is the IRWIN / LENOX "Workshop", an interactive display in the exhibit area at 21 races during the year, as well as other large-scale events. "Race Chasers", H2 Hummers featuring the Sharpie Metallic, Sharpie Professional, Rubbermaid, IRWIN and LENOX brands, will travel the race grounds and appear locally prior to the races. The Workshop and Race Chasers reach 20,000 - 30,000 people before and during each race, building our power brands through product demonstrations, games and other interactive displays. The Accelerator, which is a show car and hauler, introduces even more consumers to our brands and products at smaller-scale events such as store grand openings.

Sharpie / IRWIN Racing Website

FLW Outdoors Our relationship with FLW Outdoors, a marketer of professional fishing events, gives Newell Rubbermaid access to the broad lineup of Wal-Mart FLW fishing tournaments, which in 2003 comprises 170 events in six circuits - FLW Tour, Bass Fishing League, Everstart Series, Texas Tournament Trail, RCL Walleye Tour and RCL Walleye League - paying out a total of $20 million in prize money. Competitive fishing appeals to an estimated 80 million people nationwide, offering many opportunities for Newell Rubbermaid to tell our brand and product story. Our sponsorship includes a truck and specially designed boat with Newell Rubbermaid logos for use in Wal-Mart FLW Tour events, signage at tournaments, advertisements in FLW Outdoors magazine, inclusion in promotional and public relations materials, and prominent display on the FLW Outdoors website. Our products are showcased in the Family Fun Zone set up at each Wal-Mart FLW Tour event. Each Fun Zone features interactive games and product displays that help sponsors build brand awareness and loyalty with Wal-Mart customers.

FLW Outdoors Website

SkillsUSA-VICA SkillsUSA-VICA is a national organization for career and technical education students and their instructors. It prepares its members for the working world with education in leadership, citizenship and teamwork. Newell Rubbermaid plays an important part of its annual National Conference, bringing both the Rubbermaid Block Party and the Irwin Workshop to the event. SkillsUSA-VICA has 250,000 student members nationwide, and their early exposure to our products through contests and conference events helps to build a solid base of loyal customers for the future. Thirteen of our companies will sponsor a wide range of contests at this year's conference - from carpentry, building maintenance and metal works to pre-school teaching assistant, photography and culinary arts. Students in these contests use our products to demonstrate their skills, and the best among them earn awards from our companies.

SkillsUSA Website