Laugh your gas off with McMurray at Talladega

Go ahead, laugh your gas off.

That's what BernzOmatic is hoping you'll do as you watch Jamie McMurray's No. 26 Ford Fusion this weekend at Talladega.

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BernzOmatic, a leading global manufacturer of hand-held torches and accessories, will have its all-new Fat Boy fuel cylinder as the primary sponsor for McMurray's car this weekend, complete with a new paint scheme and some hearty chuckles.

For those of you who might not know, the majority of the teams on pit road use a BernzOmatic torch after every pit stop to remove rubber from the tires that just came off the car. By heating up the surface of the tire and scraping off the accumulated rubber, teams are able to measure the wear on those tires.

Crew chief Larry Carter also said the tool is used to heat metal at the shop, things like bumper bars and other heavy metals, before welding. Commercially, BernzOmatic is the No. 1 choice of plumbers and metal contractors, so the applications intersect.

The new Fat Boy cylinders contain 20 percent more fuel than standard 14.1 ounce cylinders, providing users with longer run times. Additionally, the cylinders have a 25 percent height reduction for greater accessibility in tight spaces.

Fat Boy propane cylinders also meet the environmental demands of today's consumers. The cylinders include patent-pending Green Key technology, which is a simple device that, when inserted into an empty propane cylinder, releases all remaining fumes, effectively depressurizing the cylinder so it can be recycled by the consumer's local steel recycler.

The Fat Boy, according to BernzOmatic's vice president of marketing, Nick Morrisroe, is a product that advances the utility of an already versatile tool.

"As we looked at it, we looked at the fuel cylinder solution," he said. "Cylinders have been the same for about 50 years. We set out to change that. We did a lot of work with users on the front end and we feel like we're adding some extra value by making a recyclable tank and putting more gas in there. Also, by being shorter and squatter, it adds a little more stability to the product itself."

OK, but how do you get the average consumer to talk about it?

"We really wanted to get people to talk about it," Morrisroe continued. "We talked to a lot of users and we realized that they say, 'Hey, it's torch fuel. I just buy it whenever I need it.' In order to create awareness, we decided to start saying things like 'Fat Boys have more gas, Fat Boys sweat more,' alluding to the way it's used to solder copper tubing.

"We created a microsite called 'Laugh Your Gas Off.com' and made some animated videos. It's been a lot of fun and we got a great reaction."

• Laugh Your Gas Off.com

As part of the new marketing angle, Morrisroe noticed that the one-line concept was a winner. They even created a one-liner contest out of it to complement the Talladega race weekend.

"The one-liner contest we had, it was kind of funny," Morrisroe chuckled. "In talking to some of our customers, we'd say 'Fat Boys have more gas' or 'Fat Boys sweat more,' and after a couple of minutes, they'd say, 'Hey, I got one,' and throw something at us. We wanted to try and tap into that a little bit and recognized that people had an affinity for that kind of thing and submitted their own one-liners.

"We created this contest around that, and the winner of that contest, a guy named Dave Farmer, we're taking to Talladega this weekend as a guest in our hospitality suite." Farmer's winning submission was, "A Fat Boy will kick your Skinny Gas."

Even McMurray got into the act.

"We're having a lot of fun promoting the new 'Fat Boy,'" laughed McMurray. "Since we are talking about an incredible, new, innovative propane cylinder, we have been able to play on the 'gas' theme in a joking manner. ...

"We're going to Talladega next weekend with a great car and a really cool paint scheme. It would be great to put the 'Fat Boy' in Victory Lane. I've always had good cars at Talladega, and with a little help from BernzOmatic, hopefully we'll torch the competition next weekend."

There are thousands of products that make up the average NASCAR team's inventory, and BernzOmatic is one among many, but like a great number of such companies, there's a niche for them to fill.

"From a company standpoint, we've always known that the NASCAR fan is a big part of our user base," Morrisroe said. "They're core users and the core demographic that we're going after. It's a natural fit for us. There are 75 million NASCAR fans, and one in four of them are core tool users.

"One of the things we've always looked at is that they [NASCAR fans] are pretty aware of our product. We have a new product that we think is unique, and this is a great way to create awareness. We think it fits very well with the personality of the NASCAR fan."

Visit http://www.bernzomatic.com/ for information, and check out laughyourgasoff.com as well if you need a chuckle. It's a ... gas.