IAO AGD BillBoard Sighting!

[MagDog68]

Well if you want to start a poll, I'll be the first to say you are the devil then.

~Fred

PS Who said you were successful? I still think you are wrong.

[irbodden]

Originally posted by MagDog68
Well if you want to start a poll, I'll be the first to say you are the devil then.

~Fred

PS Who said you were successful? I still think you are wrong.

Why are you turning this into a personal flame war?


When I see a Pepsi Ad with Britney Spears topless with a soda can covering her chest saying "Wish these weren't here?" THAN I will agree with you. Until then, your wrong.

Sex does sell, but trashy sexual ads doesn't sell to people with class.

If you want to keep Paintball a 'frowned upon sport' keep up with this trash. Otherwise your going to need to get some decently classy ads to draw classy people. Classy people will bring BIG money to the sport..

[MagDog68]

I didn't start the personal flame war, I am just not backing down from Shartley. Read his post to get more insight on the "devil" comment.

And I personally think the AGD ad is great. Why don't you go pick on the Herbal Essences commercials?

~Fred

[Riotz]

Shartley is probably upset because AGD ignored his previous opinions and used the billboard against his wishes. Awwww.

[TRIAD]

This is not a matter of what everyone ELSE does, it is a matter what the paintball industry does. Sure, there are sexually-oriented commercials from companies like Herbel Essences,. but that does not mean these commercials do not anger people with class. Now, I have heard plenty of people complain about the haughtiness of commercials such as these. You people, with the exception of a few, don't seem to understand that IT'S NOT WHAT YOU LIKE. Sure, you horny guys want to see half-naked women on billboards, but if you want to see that, go look at porn. Billboards are there for all to see, not just paintball players, and smutty, haughty, sexually-oriented billboards do NOT impress the common person. While most paintball players will understand the "That Hopper Shouldn't Be There", many people won't understand the warp feed part. They will think, hmm, paintball is a dirty sport, "Jimmy, don't even ask to play". So there goes one child who could change the sport, it will never be known. So, quit being so ignorant and look at the big picture.

[MagDog68]

I don't think AGD is suddenly going to start plastering all its advertising with smutty pictures like Bruizer or WDP - but in this instance I think the picture works great.

It accomplished two things, it gets your attention quickly as you are racing by on the highway and it adds a punchline to the advertisement. I personally feel this is adding humor to the "sex sells" slogan. At least they didn't just put nude women in for the hell of it. The sex in this ad is a part of the ad, not just the "shiny box" it is wrapped in.

~Fred

[shartley]

Originally posted by Riotz
Shartley is probably upset because AGD ignored his previous opinions and used the billboard against his wishes. Awwww.

[Lone Gunman]

What ever happened to the family that is AO?

When I first joined right after AGD purchased this forum, it was a family! There might and I repeat might be a slight difference in views every other month back then. And I had heard more cussing in a Disney movie! But that was back then.

Now there is a fight or serious dissagreement, like this one, every week. And don't even get me started on the cussing or finding different ways to circumvent the cuss filter. If I were not a kid myself and had young children, I would never let them on this forum, not anymore at least.

Why can't we all just get along?

[dansim]

BLAH BLah Blahlook i just made the most sense in this whole thread
well its already up and its not coming down i personally could care less first i look at the girl then i drool over the gun

i just want someone to quote me so i feel good

[MagDog68]

I'll do you one better...

[Sooky]

whoa...

Man, I feel like a little kid caught between two fighting parents...

However, I think everyone has raised good points concerning the billboard. I have mixed feelings though...

[dansim]

no i feel special!!!!

[Gijim]

Actually I'm with Shartley the ad is offensive to the average parent. The big difference is this ad is out where everyone can see it, where as the other ads(JT, Kingman,etc..) are in paintball magazines where most non paintball people won't ever see it. That is the reason I don't buy PB magazines, I have 2 little girls at home and they don't need to be subjected to that type of stupidity. Also in Shartleys defense if you attack him he takes it well but that post directed at his wife was a little rude and I would have blasted that person far more than he did, so he played it quite cool. Anyway, the ad makes me somewhat regretful I bought an automag, some thought will be considered in possibly selling it if AGD can't be more respectful towards the public and the paintball community. Besides we should be more willing to give things up so that more women will be intersted in paintball, half naked women on billboards will turn them away.

[manike]

Are any of the other BillBoards around the IAO using such images to promote their products?

manike

[billmi]

Some thoughts.....

Worlds must be colliding, because I don't think I've ever read any other thread where I've agreed with so much of what Shartly had to say.

As to Shartly's comments about sex vs. smut, I think back to the late 80s ads that JT did with "Bon Bon". The most revealing thing she was ever dressed in was a jersey that came halfway to her knees. Certainly the ads got attention because she was a young woman with a big smile - It's fair to say that was "sex in advertising" - but it wasn't smutty, and I don't recall seeing folks offended by it. The first few years that we had the "Warpig Roast" sales at Bad Boyz Toyz Bonnie was signing posters (in which she was fully clothed) with mothers and fathers of teenage players happily bringing them in to the store to get the posters and autographs, and buying products at the sale.

In contrast, last year at the IAO, Wicked Impulse had wet t-shirt contest that devolved into a strip-off (I must also include that it was not authorized by the promoter of the International Amateur Open). I saw two parents, apparently from different families, as it was happening (one a father, and one a mother) dragging their teen and pre-teen children out of the vendor's tent and to the parking lot. The mother, was telling her boys, despite their protests "No, we're not coming back to this one or any other." One of the key employees for the event promoter was told by her husband that he didn't want their sons working at the event the next year because of the environment presented.

I think this billboard, placed near or en route to the entrance of the event, will definitely set the tone for the event in the eyes of the visitors, as being an "adult" event rather than a "family" event. Considering the average age of paintball players (both demographics I've seen from the industry, and from WARPIG's readership), I don't believe that offending parents of teens and pre-teens, and giving them the impression that paintball is not "family friendly" is a very sound move.

Another aspect I thought rather surprising about the billboard was the message that HALO loaders don't belong on AGD markers. Looking at this from a mass media standpoint, the advertisement really only speaks to people who already know what a warp feed is. For someone who already knows what a Warp Feed is I don't expect responses that differ far from "hey, if the loader wasn't there we could see her ****" or being offended.

However for someone who doesn't know what a warp feed is, what message can they get from the billboard? It doesn't tell them that a Warp Feed moves the hopper to a new location on the paintgun. It doesn't tell them that the Warp Feed provides more cosnsitent feeding. The only clear message in the ad is that the HALO should not be on the paintgun. Does that mean that HALO's aren't compatible with Warp Feeds (the brand name listed on the banner)? Does it mean that HALO's are somehow incompatible with the gun shown? It's not really clear.

See you on the field,
-Bill Mills

Note: I edited to change some wording about the wet t-shirt contest. As I had originally written it, one might think I was saying that the company running the wet t-shirt contest didn't mean for it to turn into a strip-off. This was not the case, they encouraged it. What I meant to say, and edited the text to say, was that Team Effort events was not pleased with it, and as I understand the situation made it clear that it was not to happen again.