F1 | McLaren sponsor ‘Smartsheet’ will replace their logo on MCL36 with non-profit ‘DeadlyScience’
In Melbourne, non-profit DeadlyScience will be seen on the MCL36. This is part of Sponsor X', which is a new project from Smartsheet
McLaren has announced that for this weekend’s upcoming Australian Grand Prix, one of their sponsors, Smartsheet, has chosen to replace their logo on the MCL36 with a nonprofit. This unconventional idea in sponsorship is called Sponsor X and the non-profit to benefit from the publicity this weekend is Australian non-profit DeadlyScience.
DeadlyScience is on a mission to provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources, mentoring and learning opportunities to remote schools in Australia. To date they have provided more than 20,000 culturally appropriate books focused on STEM to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students since being founded in 2018 by Corey Tutt. For one race, McLaren sponsor Smartsheet is going to take all the media and marketing support they would normally use to support their company — including logo placement on the MCL36 and social media posts — and donate it to deserving Australian non-profit DeadlyScience.
In the press release, Smartsheet announced they had ‘teamed up with DeadlyScience to show the world their story’. McLaren Racing will run a DeadlyScience logo, a First Nation non-profit, on its car this weekend as Formula 1 returns to Melbourne for the first time since 2020.
DeadlyScience was founded by Kamilaroi man Corey Tutt after finding under-resourced schools were discouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids from pursuing STEM. The publicity which will be generated this weekend with a team featuring the F1 starting grid’s only Australian driver – Daniel Ricciardo – will be far reaching.
Founder Corey Tutt stated: “DeadlyScience is a small team with a big mission: to introduce STEM education to kids who have so much potential, but just need someone to believe in them. It means the world for Smartsheet to donate this sponsorship and believe in the important work we are doing. When the kids see DeadlyScience on the car, they’re going to know it represents them.”
McLaren’s 2022 F1 season is yet to get properly started following inconsistent performances in the opening two races of the season. However, that does not make sponsorship of them any cheaper. For that reason, the Sponsor X program is all the more impressive as every company would surely dream of such exposure.
Clearly, this approach was what Smartsheet always had in mind when it signed its deal with McLaren. For Smartsheet to give up its extremely prominent slot on the MCL36 should be rightly praised and one can only hope that other companies follow suit in future and the approach transcends the sport.
F1 is always talking about being more diverse and the mission of DeadlyScience is to respond to a ‘cultural responsibility to our first & future scientists’. The partnership seems perfectly aligned and who knows what further publicity will stem from this weekend in future.
