Seeing as the Mother of All Iron Bowls will be dripping with SEC as well as BCS implications, and is still 11 days away from actually kicking off, there’s plenty of time for myriad storylines and angles to be developed, repeated ad nauseam and ran deep into the ground.
Thankfully, an Alabama car dealership is adding a quirky twist to the run-up to the Alabama-Auburn game.
By way of al.com, Lynch Toyota in Auburn is offering a rather unique deal to its potential customers: any car that is bought between Nov. 19 and Nov. 29 will be paid for by the dealership IF the Tigers shutout the Tide in the Nov. 30 Iron Bowl. Additionally, the dealership will give away $25,000 to one buyer if AU wins the game regardless of whether Auburn whitewashes Alabama or not.
Every individual who purchases a vehicle between the stated dates will automatically be entered to have their vehicle paid for as well as the $25,000.
Here’s the clip of the commercial the dealership is currently airing:
“Other dealerships have done things like this for Alabama, but no one has done it for Auburn,” Alan Cox (not pictured), sales manager at Lynch Toyota, told the website. “So, we wanted to be the first to say we’re here and we want them to win. It’s to show that we’re pro-Auburn. We felt it would be a good way to give back.”
Of course, the odds of the dealership actually being on the hook for dozens of free vehicles is, um, not good.
The Tide has scored in 166 straight games, the third-longest such streak in school history. That streak extends all the way back to Nov. 18, 2000, when Alabama was shutout by... Auburn, of course. It was the last of four times the Tigers had blanked the Tide in the 76 games the rivalry’s been played.
The closest the Tide has come to being shutout during the Nick Saban era (2007-present)? The 9-6 loss to LSU in 2011. In fact, that was the only time the Tide has been held to single digits with Saban as coach, and have only been held under 20 points eight times in 86 games during his six-plus seasons in Tuscaloosa.
On the flip side, Auburn has given up 20-plus points in seven of its 10 games against FBS schools this season, and have failed to record a shutout against anyone on their slate.
So, breathe easy, Lynch Toyota. It’s highly doubtful a scoreboard doughnut will be on the menu two Saturdays from now, so not only will you not be on the hook for X amount of free cars you’ll get miles upon miles of free publicity and the residual business that comes with these types of stunts.
Well played, car dealer guys. Well played indeed.