As a former business owner, I had to budget advertising.
I sponsored a local dirt track racer because I wanted the money to do something for my community. His kids and my Grandkids went to the same school, and even some of the same classes. I knew those kids and a couple of them were in the Scout Troop I worked with. That money, never enough to be anything noteworthy, still stayed in the same village where I lived, and enriched the lives of my neighbors and my own family.
I never received even a single response from my advertising. But as far as I'm concerned, not one penny of that expenditure was a loss.
Maser, you just don't get it. As long as I had to spend the money anyway, I could at least try to put it somewhere that I knew good folks would get to do a few more good things. And it gave me a small thrill to see GWL Services, Inc. on the side of the car that led the local championship for two years.
It wasn't the only sponsor on that car, and not even the biggest one. But the agreement was a payout for each race, with a basic sum augmented based on finishing place, and it was a solid incentive to do better. I'm sure a few folks thought I was nuts, but I was the only sponsor in the championship who didn't just write a check and fade away into the crowd. I also got to help out in the Pits.
I was a solo IT business owner/operator. That money came out of my own pocket. I ate some less and his kids ate some more regular. That's good enough for me.
Greg
PS, I liked Adam Driver's character, the one he played in Star Wars; and it didn't hurt that he was a DAV Marine, either.