-Watch it below-
Local shop Bike n Hike has launched a new, summer marketing campaign. The first big piece of it is a commercial titled, “I am Cyclist.”
The video was shot on location in Portland and produced by Reel Innovative. It features several characters (one of whom is a Bike N Hike employee) who share the various characteristics that make them a “cyclist.” Some of the most common biking stereotypes are represented including the roadie, the mountain biker, and the fixed gear rider. Each rider type shares a few things that makes them a “cyclist” and then proudly proclaims (with patriotic music in the background), “I am cyclist!”
The mountain biker says, “I know what mud tastes like,” and “I cauterize my own wounds and set my own bones.”
The fixed gear rider says, “I’ve been hit by a car three times. Today,” and “What stop sign?”
A women dressed in spandex says, “I don’t mind the rain, it’s just nature’s tears for all the cars on the road,” and “I have a whole lane dedicated just to me.”
Check it out:
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This should help make some of the “interested but concerned” folks make up their minds…to not ever touch a bike. I think they missed the mark here.
I don’t think this advertisement really convey’s a positive message. It further enhances the divide between potential cyclists, and cyclists that can be viewed as a problem on the road.
Not to mention, anyone who doesn’t ride a bike will look at this and go “that’s exactly why I don’t, and why I don’t want them on the roads.”
I was going to say… I guess I am NOT cyclist (not that I had many doubts beforehand). I just happen to ride my bike for 95% of my trips (walking the other 5%).
I don’t quite understand if this is supposed to be sarcastic, but if it is, they didn’t pull it off very well, and if it isn’t… um… yeah.
Yeah…what is the point of this video? And “what stop sign?” Really?
what is the point of this video?
my question exactly.
Maybe someone from Bike’n’Hike could explain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-stereotyping
“Self-stereotyping may be seen as an outcome of depersonalization, where the self is viewed as a categorically interchangeable member of the salient ingroup.
Although at any given time, people’s active self-concept is a mix of situational-triggered and chronically accessible identities, self-stereotyping causes the active self-concept to more closely resemble stereotypes about one’s salient in-group. For instance, with self-stereotyping an in-group member may begin to identify with the group by acting in a stereotypic way, specific to that in-group. By exhibiting these characteristics, the individual feels more in tune with the needs and attitudes of the group.”
Why would a local small business want to kill their customer base — and I mean literally kill their customer base? Oh, ha, ha funny — that wasn’t our intention… ARE THESE GUYS FUNDED BY THE AUTO INDUSTRY??? Did they consult with a marketing company before launching the crappy ad? Wow, this advertisement is shameful to say the least. I would highly advise they pull it off YouTube ASAP before embarrassing themselves more.
Wow. Supremely cringe-worthy. Tally me as another who will choose to spend money at a different shop. They missed the mark on this one, to say the least.
How are we going to feel when General motors comes out with a commercial showing their trucks blowing through cyclists? This marketing agency needs to find another line of work.
Wait until BikeSnob gets ahold of this. I’m almost afraid to look.
If they want to attempt to be funny and edgy, they should hire some actual good comedy writers. This is just embarrassing and awful.
God I hate “cyclist culture”.
Some further thoughts – I have no problem with showing the gamut of people who ride bicycles, for sport or not, but they left out the (potentially) largest group – the one that rides for transportation like normal citizens, (mostly) following the rules and just trying to get where they’re going, not spending half their life with their pants leg rolled up running red lights (because only lame noobs stop for lights). Overall, this just kind of made me feel like I was reading a caricature in the Oregonian or something.
“not spending half their life with their pants leg rolled up running red lights”
wow…i really had no idea that rolling your pant legs up excluded you from the “tranportation cyclist” club. (although to be honest i lost my “transportation cyclist” carnet a long time ago since i also wear spandex, ride faster than 15 mph, and curse at motorists who try to kill me.
It doesn’t exclude you, I’m just saying, most people won’t think “awesome, I have to roll my one pant leg up to be a cyclist, that’s great!”
Yes, lets pitch a “cyclist” tent much bigger than this.
Really? Celebrating getting hit by a car multiple times and running stop signs as badges of cycling honor?
I am tone deaf bike shop.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I can hardly wait till Bike Snob or All Hail The Black Market get a hold of this gem.
Heavy handed much?
This thing literally reeks of over-educated, snobbish white privelidge.
Also what is up with the quick camera pan on the dude in the campy hat?
Welllll, we can see where most people stand on this one. It is parody, IMO. Is it good parody ? Not really. I am as outwardly concerned with cycling’s perception as the next guy, but it seems that most of you don’t have a sense of humor. Now that is Portland, predictably dry.
To tickle someone’s sense of humor, a thing must be funny. I’ve seen funnier sidewalks.
Agreed. You even said it’s bad parody. Do you make a habit of laughing at bad jokes?
I giggled at parts of it, this much is true. Do I see it a some kind of vehicle that will lead bastions of haters to cycling’s door? No. What I do find amazing is Portland’s over reaching concern of the walking contradiction known as Bike Snob, and his potential outcry! whoa !
At least he’s funny.
I thought “shit cyclists say” was a pretty good one, personally. Hit the nail on the head quite a few times. Google it if you haven’t seen it.
I’m usually one to lean towards an attempt at humor over nothing at all, but that is REALLY bad. The stop sign thing p*sses me off. Where’s the law abiding biker that is saving gas money for an earlier retirement?
I am cyclist. Me want fish sticks now. Bye bye.
The beginning is good, but it still falls flat for me.
I agree with all the legitimate concerns above, yet oddly enough it’s the name of the campaign itself that galls me most. Are you allowed to just drop the indefinite article like that? Maybe in an engineering specification or some poorly-translated instructions from a land where things of value are actually made.
This ad actually has a long list of predecessors though, in terms of being ham-fisted attempts at “satire” that only succeed in literally talking you OUT of buying what’s advertised. Can’t think of any off the top of my head and it would be too nauseating to go find them, but just think of your favorite ad showing someone using a product in a manner completely douchey that “humorously” points out all the problems you’re going to have if you buy it.
Ian the ‘Australian’: “I am Cyclist.”
I think with all the revelations arising around Ian there should be a Pedalpallooza “Team Ian” ride complete with tall boys of Bud’s and copies of US Today.
the fact that anyone is worried about how “the cyclist” is portrayed in popular media means we are still suffering under a slave mentality. okay, so i am not represented in these (obviously extreme) caricatures, but i have no difficulty presenting myself without caricature on the streets.
I too am not concerned with ‘how this reflects on us as a group who ride bikes,’ but even so I’m confused about what these folks hoped to achieve, what their point was, why they went to the trouble to write this particular script and get their subjects to deliver their lines with such a flat affect.
I think it’s unanimous, this is more of a bad joke than an ad.
Belongs on FAIL blog.
If they should feel the need to try again, perhaps they should try “I am a person on a bicycle”
How about a Driver parody?
I am driver.
I drive too fast for conditions. Rain, sleet, snow, black ice: 60 MPH +. YEEE HAAW!
I drive 1/10th of a mile to the post office. Every day.
I think it’s fun to play chicken with pedestrians! No one ever gets hurt and they’re stupid to be walking out in the road anyways.
I have entire business models dedicated to ME. They’re called “drive thrus”. Get with the program you commie cyclists
I drive 5 minutes to a local mall and spend 15 minutes fighting for a parking spot 10 feet closer to the doors.
I play video games on my laptop and smart phone while driving; it’s so boring in traffic.
I love the freedom driving provides me. Every day I commute 18 miles and it only takes me about 65-75 minutes each way.
I’ve only had a few, I drive better when I have a few in me.
I once went in to 20 minute tirade about someone walking too close to my paint job and scuffing the wax.
It is my God given RIGHT to drive when ever and where ever I want, it says so in the Constitution.
I am driver. Get the F#$% outta my way.
Good one! In a weird way I think all the existing car commercials showing the car cruising along on deserted picturesque highways in exotic locations are almost the best parody there is, but you have to read between the lines to get the joke. Or especially any commercial where they feel the need to warn you that it’s a “Professional driver on closed course,” those are always pretty ridiculous.
Have to admit, when I see TV ads for the make and model of car I drive I usually feel just as embarrassed. “Aggression, in it’s most elegant form”… yeah, that makes sense for a conservative Japanese sedan.
“I am Blog Commenter!” 🙂
To be fair, BnH is a good LBS with some good folks, always treated me (and my bikes) well.
…Don’t you mean, “I am person on bicycle”?
It is irrational to defend this video as “humor” because it is intended as marketing by a Bicycle retailer. Certainly they wanted to make it funny, and that is legitimate, but when you fail this miserably at advertising and promoting your own business and industry the suckiness isn’t just that you didn’t succeed at getting laughs. This is total failure as advertising and shows a creative process and possibly an entire organizational mentality that really doesn’t “get” cycling. They want to sell stuff to us, but clearly they are clueless about the marketplace.
I like this definition of “a cyclist.”
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/12674956/cycling-explained
They forgot “I am a cargo-cyclist… I have a chicken coop and participate in community gardening….”
Now that’s funny! 🙂
I thought it was a funny parody.
Also (unrelated) I have had only positive experiences at the bike n hike on MLK.
They certainly missed one demographic which folks here appear to value:
“I’ve complained about the mandatory sidepath law to perfect strangers”
“I comment on BP at least twice a week”
“I once got all hot and bothered talking to Matt Garrett about lane striping”
“I am cyclist”
“I’ve read “Effective Cycling” cover to cover more than twice and want to explain it to you. All day long.”
“I blog about my hatred of cars”
“<generic insult about diminutive manhood of large SUV drivers>”
I’d suggest editing out the “hit by car” and “what stop signs?”
Once the Oregonian get’s ahold of it, it will be cited as proof positive that cyclists are scofflaws. Good idea (parody), but poorly executed.
Every time I start reading comments on Oregonian articles that Jonathon points to, I cure myself by going out riding and realize that most people aren’t dangerously oblivious dipsh!ts. Bicycling on roads with cars simply isn’t as unsafe or contentious as people make it out to be.
Yeah, that’s why I stopped ever, EVER reading Oregonian stories.
That being said, other people’s view of the world is shaped by the Oregonian, so it is somewhat important what they say about the world.
Ugh. That doesn’t help things…
I am Joe, I am carless
the same video production company is soliciting other local bike shops for their marketing services. i wonder if they read bikeportland.org…
Same advertising flack as was/is at WebTrends?
I watched it. Other than the fixie dude, I don’t think anything in there is particularly offensive or could be construed as such. But that fixie dude only perpetuates a myth that all fixie riders, and most other cyclists, blatantly disregard the law. If you have to tell someone it’s parody, then you’ve failed in your message. Of course, the rest of the ad falls pretty short as an invitation to consider riding a bike. Double fail.
The other spot in the ‘campaign’ is better than this one at least.
Here’s the newest spot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NarQFhTZL1M&feature=g-subs-u
Hey everyone we really appreciate all your feedback and involvement in the online cycling community. We would really appreciate it if you took a look at another one of our videos and let us know what you think. http://youtu.be/1y2_RIVGfs0 Thanks a lot! -The Bike n Hike team
Now THAT’s better.