Le Tour de France is celebrating its 100th race which starts tomorrow (June 29). Interesting thing is that the race
originated as a newspaper publicity stunt.
In 1902, Le Vélo, a French sports newspaper which previously only sponsored bicycle races, organized its own race. Its competition, L'Auto, decided it had to get into the game and do something to attract readers. L'Auto launched its own bicycle race - a multi-stage, multi-day race around France - in 1903. The famous yellow jersey is that colour because L'Auto was printed on yellow-tinted paper.
The circulation of L'Auto took off and, in 1904, Le Vélo went out of business.
When was the last time any current newspaper did anything like this to attract reader attention? Do newspapers still have promotions and marketing people? Or, do newspapers sell themselves?
Topic: Tour de France (Read 1703 times)