Irresponsible Advertising

fiver1971 · Post by **fiver1971** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:22 am

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Je1vE62tY

This is one of those fly-by-night companies that's selling cheap Chinese piece of junk scoots (which I almost bought myself before doing my research). Check out the idiot at about 46 seconds in who decides it'd be smart to put his feet over the handlebars. This has to qualify as THE MOST irresponsible way to advertise ever. I'm curious, has anybody seen anything anywhere near this idiotic on the net? (I do hope that these guys get smart and start wearing helmets). (by the way...Utah doesn't have a helmet law if your over age 18, but anyone with half a brain does wear a helmet)

OKBubbles · Post by **OKBubbles** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:37 am

fiver1971 wrote:Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Je1vE62tY

This is one of those fly-by-night companies that's selling cheap Chinese piece of junk scoots (which I almost bought myself before doing my research). Check out the idiot at about 46 seconds in who decides it'd be smart to put his feet over the handlebars. This has to qualify as THE MOST irresponsible way to advertise ever. I'm curious, has anybody seen anything anywhere near this idiotic on the net? (I do hope that these guys get smart and start wearing helmets). (by the way...Utah doesn't have a helmet law if your over age 18, but anyone with half a brain does wear a helmet)

Is it obnoxious that my first thought was -- if you don't wear a helmet, you might very well end up with half a brain!

charltons · Post by **charltons** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:33 am

On one of the genuine flyers, where the guy in the suit is riding a rattler w/o a helmet, at least it says wear a helmet.

chrissolo48 · Post by **chrissolo48** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:09 pm

OKBubbles wrote:
fiver1971 wrote:Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Je1vE62tY

This is one of those fly-by-night companies that's selling cheap Chinese piece of junk scoots (which I almost bought myself before doing my research). Check out the idiot at about 46 seconds in who decides it'd be smart to put his feet over the handlebars. This has to qualify as THE MOST irresponsible way to advertise ever. I'm curious, has anybody seen anything anywhere near this idiotic on the net? (I do hope that these guys get smart and start wearing helmets). (by the way...Utah doesn't have a helmet law if your over age 18, but anyone with half a brain does wear a helmet)
Is it obnoxious that my first thought was -- if you don't wear a helmet, you might very well end up with half a brain!

My thoughts exactly!

BladeGirl · Post by **BladeGirl** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:34 pm

This was in the Saturday Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... llo_vespa/

You can't see the photo that accompanied it - the reporter with bare legs, sandals, arms ... basically only a 3/4 helmet for protection. And this after she writes

"Of course, in a city where driving is considered a blood sport, tooling around on a 216-pound, 50 cc scooter might seem like a death wish. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and this fearless reporter wondered if saving a few bucks on gas is worth risking life and limb."

Great spokesperson for scooters. Not.

jperkins · Post by **jperkins** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:46 pm

Please read the posting guidelines

"Helmet laws, and whether they should or should not exist, are a prohibited topic."

BladeGirl · Post by **BladeGirl** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:59 pm

Sorry, not talking about helmet laws. And the reporter was wearing a helmet. Talking about her judgement is stating the dangers of riding in the city, then posting a pic of herself wearing no protection.

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:06 pm

I'm sure everyone realizes this but I'll post it anyway.

The point of advertising is to sell more product. Not enumerate safety concerns, etc. What sells scooters?

Fun.
Easy- hope on, scoot to the café, enjoy your espresso and scoot home.
Gas mileage. 100 mpg!!! (right...)
Romantic notions of Roman Holiday.
Europe.
They are "toy" motorcycles.

...and things of the like.

I doubt any of us started thinking about a scooter because we really wanted a full-face helmet, an armored jacket, or to wonder if jeans would hold up in a 35mph slide. I'm guessing most of us first started thinking about a scooter for one of the reasons above. Then as we (being the responsible consumers of MB that we are) started to research scooters, in addition to finding out that the Buddy is the best thing going, we also discovered that there were more safety concerns than we had originally considered. It was too late, we were hooked.

That Boston paper article surprised me because it talked about lane splitting which is not legal in Boston. But as far as gear, the reporter was "legally" geared up. We may think she's stupid, but it was her choice. I always think it's ironic when we question or rip into another person's gear choices (and I've done it here and elsewhere too) when we ourselves make a choice to ride scooters! It's all relative. Shouldn't cagers be ripping into us whether we are wearing shorts/tank top/flip flops or a titanium bubble around our body? After all, we ride tiny machines of metal and plastic that provide no impact protection and are very hard to see, and we ride them in a sea of multi-ton machines that are out to get us.

Oh, also, yes there's been something way crazier than that original video posted here. I can't find it but it's a video of a guy LAYING on his moped seat (like superman) on a highway. It's freakin' awesome!!

Then there's the one of the really drunk people jumping a scooter off of a homemade ramp with other really drunk people sitting right next to the ramp in lawn chairs... and then there's every scooter rally video ever posted.. and then...

chancerbeans13 · Post by **chancerbeans13** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:22 pm

I've been thinkng about altering the paint job on my scooter, but after today...NO WAY...one of the guys that I work with, came in today and said, "You really shouldn't re-paint your scooter...I was driving down Atlantic Blvd yesterday and saw this bright orange scooter and a white helmet from about a mile away and knew it was you." And that was in traffic!

djelliott · Post by **djelliott** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:34 pm

chancerbeans13 wrote:I've been thinkng about altering the paint job on my scooter, but after today...NO WAY...one of the guys that I work with, came in today and said, "You really shouldn't re-paint your scooter...I was driving down Atlantic Blvd yesterday and saw this bright orange scooter and a white helmet from about a mile away and knew it was you." And that was in traffic!

I know Genuine Calls it "Tangerine" but when people ask me what color my Buddy is I refer to it as "Safety Orange".

DJE

BladeGirl · Post by **BladeGirl** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:49 pm

jmazza, sorry. Overenthusiastic noob here. You're right all. Not my place to criticize.

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:01 pm

BladeGirl wrote:jmazza, sorry. Overenthusiastic noob here. You're right all. Not my place to criticize.

No... no need to be sorry. My opinion is right with yours. It just always turns into an endless loop. Advertisers are going to only tell half the truth, and people are going to be stupid. No sense in us worrying about it. I'm glad to see a "noob" (which despite my inflated post count I am too- only riding since December) understand the importance of gear.

Maybe it comes from living in a state with no helmet law. I pull up to Harleys and sport bikes every day and I'm geared up and they are in shorts and tank tops. It used to piss me off, but I just can't be bothered by their choices so I just laugh and think about how fun the Buddy is to ride.

Sorry if my post came across condescending in any way; I didn't at all mean for it to!!

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:03 pm

BladeGirl wrote:jmazza, sorry. Overenthusiastic noob here. You're right all. Not my place to criticize.

If you can't criticize on the Internet, what good is it? And I agree with you.

A friend of mine shot a segment for a craft show on the DIY network, they shot her riding a block without her helmet (she always wears it, but the show was about her and they wanted to be able to see her.) Within minutes of the show airing, she got a couple angry emails from viewers telling her she should wear a helmet, which was pretty funny.

But I get mad, too, when the media or an ad shows someone riding without a helmet. A promotional video by a scooter company, especially, should encourage safety and responsibile riding. If those were stunt or professional riders showing off the capabilities of the machine, it should have been labeled with a disclaimer, instead of making it out to look like a Starboyz video. PGO has some G-Max 'stunt' videos out, but theyre all clearly made on a closed road with professional supervision, and the riders are wearing full leathers and helmets.

I've never ridden that style of Chinese scooter before, but many chinese scooters have a tendency to whip the fork to one side or another, I sure wouldn't let go of the handlebars.

search for "Tracy Butler Vespa" in Youtube. Classic example of a reporter showing how 'easy' it is to ride a Vespa in heels and an un-fastened half-helmet, with no training.

BladeGirl · Post by **BladeGirl** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:28 pm

Thanks, guys. I am a long-time bicycle rider commuter and was one of those people who thought that moving "up" to a scooter would maybe require a harder helmet but nothing else. I never thought I'd end up with a full face (not cute at all!), gloves, armor, etc. But I did a lot of reading first, including on this forum, and realized that if I was going to do it there were greater risks involved than I thought. In the end I got the gear and signed up to take the motorcycle safety class so I could protect myself by increasing my awareness and skills, and maybe I went overboard (like a new convert). I wouldn't tell someone else how to live their life, but I thought reporters should bear a greater responsibility in going beyond the "fun" look on a summer day.

In any event, this site has been great for me. I have learned a lot, gotten some great resource links, ended up naming my scooter and joining a local scooter club as a result. No offense taken and I'll keep on reading.

fiver1971 · Post by **fiver1971** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:11 pm

I missed the forum guidelines about talking about helmet laws. I do apologize for bringing them up in my initial post in this thread.

I do agree with JMAZZA who wrote: ]"The point of advertising is to sell more product. Not enumerate safety concerns, etc. What sells scooters?" However, I do think they should have some responsability to not encourage unsafe driving either. I'm not sure where the balance falls between making the scooter look fun, while still making sure to show people riding in a responsible manner, i.e. not laying on your stomach on the seat and driving the scoot like you're flying like Superman as someone mentioned earlier. Just my two cents.

MPA · Post by **MPA** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:20 pm

I don't see any problem - motorcycle and car companies tend to advertise their bikes with images of them on a track going fast. but of course they add in the little "professional driver on aclosed course - do not attempt" bs so I guess it's ok

FA-Q · Post by **FA-Q** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:21 am

I like the youtube vid of the girls on the merry-go-round and the stupid guys spinning it with a 2T 50cc scooter. Now that's stupid! But funny.

Smiziley · Post by **Smiziley** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:13 am

The line at :32 is great.
"Why ride a car when you can ride a paparazzi"
Yeah I'd rather ride IN a car...

7eregrine · Post by **7eregrine** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:08 pm

illnoise wrote: search for "Tracy Butler Vespa" in Youtube. Classic example of a reporter showing how 'easy' it is to ride a Vespa in heels and an un-fastened half-helmet, with no training.

LOL, that was funny.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBXgZ9HWF5E

She's not wearing heels, though. Looks like white sneakers.

Modern Buddy