I hadn't checked in on one of my favorite bloggers in some time, but I've been a fan of his blog now for several years. His daughter had some choice observations that he shared with us in his Cars, Cocks & Hair Replacement… entry. It got me thinking: when was the last time YOU saw a bicycle ad on TV? I honestly can't remember when it was, and that frankly bothers me. I see bicycles all the time b/c I look at them on the internet, I ride one daily and I look for other cyclists on the street, but I know that I'm somewhat of an anomaly in terms of the general US population. Other than the occasional token comment by our elected officials about riding bikes, the push to get out of our cars as a solution to foreign oil dependence is non-existant. Most folks don't even consider the bicycle as a viable alternative to the car. It IS, but in order to make this realization, you have to take a cold hard look at the whole picture.
So... I invite your comments: when was the last time YOU saw a bicycle ad on TV? Have you EVER seen one?
Portugal 2004
4 months ago
2 comments:
it's been a while since i watched any non-TiVo'd TV, (meaning that I zoom past the ads) but as i recall bikes show up in car ads all the time. mountain bikes. as in, how are you going to have any fun if you can't drive out to where the cars are thin, and get on a bike?
Todd, I stand corrected. I guess we do see bikes in ads… it's just that those ads aren't really about the bike; kind of like what Lance says? Um… not really. I haven't spent much time watch the programming in Portland: are there any bicycle ads that don't feature cars? Is clevercycles going to have a TV commercial? How bout a bus stop shelter sign? Billboard? Until then I'll keep flogging you guys down here in the Bay Area… and despite your warnings, I may still get a Bakfiets bike and put the stokemonkey on it. Of course, I'll likely have hydraulic disc brakes put on... as well as making it possible to run super wide rubber on the bike so the contact patch is big enough to handle all that braking capability. I'm thinking Surly Endomorph sizes.. that'd be enough right?
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