M&M’s Vote: Ken Schrader knows that the future of his car is in his fans’ hands – at least the future color of the #36 “M&M’s”® Pontiac. As candy lovers around the world cast their vote for the new color in the famous “M&M’s”® candy mix – pink, purple or aqua – NASCAR fans have to keep a second thing in mind. The winning color – whether it be pink, purple or aqua – will be the color of the #36 car (and Schrader’s uniform) for a one-race paint scheme at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. This weekend, NASCAR fans by the thousands will have the opportunity for their voice to be heard. Fans at Talladega Superspeedway will be able to cast their vote for pink, purple or aqua at a special “M&M’s”® GLOBAL COLOR VOTE(tm) voting tent. The tent will be located near souvenir alley, which is close to the North Entrance of the track. Fans will be able to cast their all important vote Friday from 8:00am to 3:00pm, Saturday/Sunday from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Fans can vote as many times as they want each day. Each voter will receive an “I VOTED” sticker and a Fun Size package of “M&M’s”® for their vote. Schrader isn’t worried about fans picking the color of his car – even if one of the choices is pink. In fact, he hopes that the fans line up to vote for the new color. “Hey, I keep telling people that I look good in pink,” Schrader said. “I don’t care what color my car is – what matters to me is that it gets around the track fast. I’ll drive whatever color race car “M&M’s”® gives me. People keep giving me a hard time about maybe driving a pink car. I just want the fans to get out there and vote.” If history is any indication of how the people will respond to the GLOBAL COLOR VOTE(tm), Schrader will get his wish for long lines and lots of votes. In 1995 when “M&M’s”® asked consumers across the United States to vote for a new color, millions of people responded. An astounding 10,234,142 votes were cast and the color Blue won in a landslide – and that was just in the United States. This time around though, the question is being poised to people worldwide in 75 countries.(M&M’s Racing-IMG Motorsports PR)(4-17-2002)
