SASKATOON – A lot of people would pay good money to catch some second-hand Olympic glory.
And while it can’t offer sports fans a piggyback ride on sprinter Donovan Bailey’s shoulders or sell articles of decathlete Michael Smith’s clothing, New Holland hopes it can cash in with used Olympic tractors.
“It gives us a lot of extra visibility,” said New Holland spokes-person Gene Hemphill. “Any publicity like that is good.”
The Olympics, running July 19-Aug. 4, does not yet have tractor-pull competitions. But Hemphill said his company is providing more than 300 pieces of machinery to the Atlanta games for the heavy pulling and pushing that is needed in everything from equestrian events to kayak races. Many are farm tractors, such as skid-steer loaders used in barns.
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That makes New Holland an official supplier to the games, a designation the company thinks will excite some tractor buyers.
“The units are going to be identified as having been used in the 1996 Olympics,” said Hemphill.
Supplying so many machines and training so many drivers isn’t cheap, but Hemphill said the company has seen before how well brushes with fame can appeal in an advertising campaign.
New Hollands were used in one of the “Die Hard” movies and during the shooting of the movie, star Demi Moore was seen in the cab of one tractor.
The dealer who bought the used tractors sold them with special “Demi sat here” seat covers, Hemphill said.
