On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 10:08:57 -0400, "Churchill" wrote:

Speaking as a non-American I would never have heard of the "USPS" if it
wasn't for the Tour, so their marketing worked in my case

USPS is smart to do this, they are getting all of Europe focused on their
name, cycling 'I sense' is much more popular in Europe than North America

It's not bad advertising in the US, either, and having seen the budget
numbers for what they spent supporting Lance & Co a couple of years
ago, I think they're doing pretty well particularly since they're
getting a lot more than just some forgettable and tawdry billboards
and print ads. (By comparison, it would have cost several times as
much to support a NASCAR entry of any note, and would not have given
them a penny's worth of international recognition, nor would it have
reached the upper-echelon US business decision-makers whose attention
they also wanted to draw.)

Recently, of course, the fact that Lance has been winning *in France*
has been scoring points with some of the less intellectual Americans.
They demand their bread and circuses loudly. (Some of our local post
offices were selling USPS cycling jerseys a few months back, and they
sold out rather quickly. I was surprised that this was the case.)
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