Bikes in ads
Thread started by
marino at 05.22.08 - 12:53 pm
I see more and more bicycles in ads and window displays. Ads that have nothing to do with bicycles. I guess they are considered a cool prop casting an a shadow of hipness to whatever product they are actually selling. OK I have no problem with that but....
I have mixed feelings about the attached Wells Fargo ad I found recently in the LA Times. Why is this young, attractive, vaguely Latino couple on bicycles? Is it because they are cool, young, healthy, in love or is it because they are broke and they don't own a house, maybe not even a car yet ???
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They're definitely not Tren Way.
turrican05.22.08 - 1:01 pm
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turrican, are you suggesting that all members of tren way are young, attractive, and vaguely latino?
ruinedbyidiots05.22.08 - 1:06 pm
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No, I'm suggesting (nay, positing) that no members of Tren Way would house-hunt on cruisers.
turrican05.22.08 - 1:12 pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkujswdGxLw
Joe Borfo05.22.08 - 1:17 pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twQlpFrm5iM
turrican05.22.08 - 1:19 pm
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That ad only looks negative to someone looking at being of Mexican ethnicity as a negative thing, and associating poverty with bicycle riding.
Those kids look like a modern latin version of a couple of kids out having fun. The ad makes these it look as if this young couple were white kids dreaming of their future in white america in the 1950's.
ubrayj0205.22.08 - 2:10 pm
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To me it looks like some fake ass people pretending that they are riding bikes in fake neighborhood that they wish they had fake money to buy a fake house with.
I know ads can be subversive, trust me. But this just looks like a really campy ad that is supposed to entice you into living the suburban life.
You know...being young, hip, and riding bikes.
Well, except riding bikes. Because that's still not mainstream enough.
kyber05.22.08 - 2:13 pm
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i personally think I'm the only person that's ever ridden a bike and thus I hate this ad and all of you for destroying my culture.
stevestevesteve05.22.08 - 2:25 pm
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we all see what we're looking for
0gravity05.22.08 - 2:27 pm
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Well, the
idea of riding bikes through suburbia, in that overly-smiley Sunday afternoon recreation kinda way, is plenty mainstream. The reality, not so much.
On the last Ride-Arc, as we were being chased out of Playa Vista by security guys in golf carts, it struck me as ironic that the architectural renderings for the complex undoubtedly included smiling couples riding bikes and enjoying the community atmosphere. In advertising, couples on cruiser bikes are one of those convenient metaphors for community and safety. Unfortunately, the relationship between the bicycle and the advertised product rarely extends beyond the realm of metaphor.
nathansnider05.22.08 - 2:33 pm
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"it struck me as ironic that the architectural renderings for the complex undoubtedly included smiling couples riding bikes and enjoying the community atmosphere. In advertising, couples on cruiser bikes are one of those convenient metaphors for community"
Right, and you, too can BE those smiling couples..
..IF you're a homeowner/renter of the complex!
Lame.
turrican05.22.08 - 2:37 pm
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I see the metaphor in this case as riding bikes = leisure time. Which is fine as far as it goes, but it would seem to exclude the idea of riding bikes as a conscious and intentional transportation decision.
It's true that these days I see bikes all the time in ads and fashion spreads. I'm not exactly sure what it means, but I think it says, "Bikes are cool".
I wonder if we'll ever see an ad with 500 drunken cyclists wearing funny costumes running red lights in the middle of the night? Or an ad with a guy on a tall bike? And what will it be advertising?
mr rollers05.22.08 - 3:40 pm
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why did you have to bring this up marino?why?
mandingo05.22.08 - 3:46 pm
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a six pack for 3 people?craaazyy..
mandingo05.22.08 - 3:48 pm
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I'm picturing an ad showing a group of painfully hip 20-somethings strapping their tallbikes onto the top of an SUV. They'll drive to some scenic location, where they'll surrounded by throngs of cheering admirers as they play tallbike polo or something like that.
If it hasn't happened yet, it will. At that point, we can declare Tallbike Culture: Officially Dead.
nathansnider05.22.08 - 3:51 pm
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"a six pack for 3 people?"
Sounds like a FIGHT
turrican05.22.08 - 3:51 pm
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My house is in a similar type subdivision. I happen to live around the corner from a Class II bike path and I always see bicyclists riding past my house. In the mornings, I see parents riding with their kids to the local school. My realtor had mentioned the close proximity to bike paths when I was shopping for a house. She had no idea I even owned a bike.
I'm having trouble dealing with all the generalizations I'm reading in this thread. What I'm seeing in my neighborhood is a continuing upward trend towards bicycling.
Maybe it's time for all of you to get out of LA and move to a community where it's a lot more bike friendly and it's not unusual to see your neighbors on a bike.
I notice she even has a helmet in her basket. After I split my helmet in a crash, it occured to me it could have been my head instead of the helmet.
mk452405.22.08 - 4:22 pm
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People have no place in bike ads!!!!!!!
Eric Hair05.22.08 - 4:28 pm
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Whats up, MK.
I don't see anything wrong with a bike in that ad. I like seeing bikes anywhere. I don't really get this thread. I don't need to move anywhere else. I like bikes. I want to see more bikes. I want to see more people ride bikes. I don't care what is mainstream or not. Bikes in ads = good to me.
Joe Borfo05.22.08 - 4:30 pm
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Borfo, I agree with you. What's wrong with having people with bikes in an ad? I just wanted to point out that it's not necessarily fake. I think it's good. All this stuff about fake ass people and people doing a leisure ride as not being real kind of puzzled me.
To me, the ad seemed to say it was a positive thing to have a bike. With the house in the background, I didn't see it as bicycling being relegated to the poor but as a young couple looking at a house that's probably priced easily over $800k and coming up with the means to get into that market.
As far as getting kicked out of Playa Vista on the RideARC ride, I wonder if it might have been a crowd of 200 people showing up out of nowhere and scaring the shit out of the security guards who were probably clueless and clearly outnumbered over what was happening.
mk452405.22.08 - 4:55 pm
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My original post still stands; they're definitely not Tren Way.
turrican05.22.08 - 5:02 pm
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Fake = not real.
All pretend. That's what advertising is, and that's how it works.
That was all I was saying.
kyber05.22.08 - 5:05 pm
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Rain clouds? Hell, yes!
Weather!
In LA!
It's a miracle!
Screw this online bickering, I'm going to go for a stroll now, because it's raining.
nathansnider05.22.08 - 5:17 pm
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I'd go for a stroll, but i might get beaten down by the pea sized hail that has been dropping randomly for the last 20 minutes...
FuzzBeast05.22.08 - 5:18 pm
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Nothing against bikes in ads (and fashion spreads) here, especially if it gets more people to ride and be aware of bikes. I like bikes (and turtles).
But did you see the moon walking bear?
mr rollers05.22.08 - 6:34 pm
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Don't worry. When there were no bikes in mainstream media, we bitched about it. Now mainstream media has decided bikes are cool, so we bitch about that. Soon enough, bikes won't be officially cool anymore, and we can go back to bitching about no bikes in mainstream media. As long as we've got something to bitch about, it's all good, right?
PC05.23.08 - 3:53 am
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