Damned Army (Marines really) ad

giant_man
giant_man Posts: 6,878
edited February 2008 in Discuss the website with the team
following on from my earlier rant, how much longer is this pro-war propaganda ad going to appear? It disappeared briefly and it is so irritating. If I wanted to see this kind of thing, I would surely watch 'Saving Private Ryan' or similar.

Is it really suitable for us peace loving, inoffensive cyclists?

Comments

  • Robspedding
    Robspedding Posts: 146
    Watch out giantmancp - the ad is for the Marines. Never call 'em Army!!!
    Editor, Cycling Plus.
    Stop me and buy one at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Whatever Rob they're all the same to me mate, bloody ad!
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,673
    simple solution Firefox and addblock plus.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Robspedding
    Robspedding Posts: 146
    It is rather noisy isn't it. Mind you I've just signed up...oh no what I've have I done...
    Editor, Cycling Plus.
    Stop me and buy one at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Good grief anything but that eh? It's bloody noisy Rob and when you least expect it, you're just having a look on the home page and then all of a sudden ........ !!%@^&
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    edited February 2008
    Turn the sound off on your computer.
  • COVEC
    COVEC Posts: 213
    Hi,
    I rather like the idea of the site supporting our armed forces, they are under immense pressure at the moment and need all the recruits they can get their hands on. They could also do with all our support in the current political climate.
    It is important to distinguish the service personnel from their political masters who decide what they are to do.

    COVEC
  • Cunobelin
    Cunobelin Posts: 11,792
    Actually most Service Personnel are not "pro war" - Politicians are pro-war.
    <b><i>He that buys land buys many stones.
    He that buys flesh buys many bones.
    He that buys eggs buys many shells,
    But he that buys good beer buys nothing else.</b></i>
    (Unattributed Trad.)
  • ChrisLS
    ChrisLS Posts: 2,749
    ...it just shows what a tough lot us cyclists are if the Royal Marines are on Bike Radar trying to recruit us.. :o 8)
    ...all the way...'til the wheels fall off and burn...
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    M.Cole wrote:
    Turn the sound off on your computer. Or install an adblocker

    Well to be fair I shoudn't have to. It's invading my viewing pleasure of the site.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    giant mancp wrote:
    Well to be fair I shoudn't have to. It's invading my viewing pleasure of the site.
    Given that it pays for all the free content you get, i think you should cope 8)
  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    Cunobelin wrote:
    Actually most Service Personnel are not "pro war" - Politicians are pro-war.

    Hmmm...spose that makes sense....

    Politicians starts wars and service personell die.
    Service Personell start wars and....damn Service Personell die.
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

    H.G. Wells.
  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    edited January 2008
    M.Cole wrote:
    giant mancp wrote:
    Well to be fair I shoudn't have to. It's invading my viewing pleasure of the site.
    Given that it pays for all the free content you get, i think you should cope 8)

    To be fair, most of the content has already been published in the various future publishing magazines which I would wager most of bikeradar users buy at least one of as well. And remember, this site serves as a wonderful advert for Future Publishing, which is impossible to put a price on. Many product searches result in links to BikeRadar. You can't tell me thats bad for business! And after all it is the community that holds the value in a forum site like this as the majority of the content (including advice sought by non-bikeradar users) is generated by the users.

    I should also wager that by combining all of the old magazine sites into one site has made the web part less expensive than it used to be.

    That said, it is advertising that makes the web (and publishing worlds) go round, and we don't have such luxuries as ad-blockers in the magazines which we buy.

    But don't get confused and think that the content is free or more exactly that there is no cost associated with it as that is clearly incorrect.

    cee - Software Engineer, Business Analyst and Technologist
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

    H.G. Wells.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    cee wrote:
    To be fair, most of the content has already been published in the various future publishing magazines which I would wager most of bikeradar users buy at least one of as well.
    Maybe, but that doesn't mean that the content magically appears on a web page.
    cee wrote:
    I should also wager that by combining all of the old magazine sites into one site has made the web part less expensive than it used to be.
    You think? :roll:
    cee wrote:
    But don't get confused and think that the content is free.
    Why? It is.
  • cee
    cee Posts: 4,553
    M.Cole wrote:
    cee wrote:
    To be fair, most of the content has already been published in the various future publishing magazines which I would wager most of bikeradar users buy at least one of as well.
    Maybe, but that doesn't mean that the content magically appears on a web page.

    Magic no.
    M.Cole wrote:
    cee wrote:
    I should also wager that by combining all of the old magazine sites into one site has made the web part less expensive than it used to be.
    You think? :roll:

    Yip I do. It takes less time to update one site than it does 5. Time = Money. OK this is the simplified version, but I don't really want to think about cost efficiencies of rationalised data storage, interfaces, etc
    M.Cole wrote:
    cee wrote:
    But don't get confused and think that the content is free.
    Why? It is.

    Nope it is not as I have pointed out above. You will however notice that there was also a point made saying that advertising is where it's at, so being defensive in your reply was a little ott
    Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.

    H.G. Wells.
  • John Stevenson
    John Stevenson Posts: 962
    A few points:

    The majority of BikeRadar's traffic comes from outside the forums.

    The site is free as in beer. Nobody is asking you to pay a subscription.

    Yes, the marines ad is annoying. While we'd like you to view the ads as they help pay for the site, you'll note that we're suggesting you use an adblocker if the ads annoy you. Us folks responsible for the site's day-to-day content have little-to-no influence over what ads we carry.

    There's a lot more content on BikeRadar than there ever was on the previous sites. It's therefore a LOT more expensive to run. For a start it has a much bigger staff. "It takes less time to update one site than it does 5" is like saying it takes less time to wash one 747 than five microlights.

    Yes, we're taking a lot of material from the magazines, but that in itself has overheads that aren't obvious until you sit down and do it.

    We're open to constructive criticism, but we get tetchy when people have a go based on assumptions that are out the other side of wrong and heading for a cliff at 40 mph.
    John Stevenson
  • Ruari
    Ruari Posts: 217
    giant mancp wrote:
    following on from my earlier rant, how much longer is this pro-war propaganda ad going to appear? It disappeared briefly and it is so irritating. If I wanted to see this kind of thing, I would surely watch 'Saving Private Ryan' or similar.

    Is it really suitable for us peace loving, inoffensive cyclists?

    Ha, made me smile! :D I'm a 'sworn enemy' of the Marines (I jump out of planes) :shock: , but you have to give it to them- they have a heck of an ad campaign! Yes, the ad is durned annoying, and yes it's a bit noisy, but it does grab your attention. And isn't that what an ad is supposed to do? Further, I don't think all cyclists are all peaceloving, tree-huggers (help us all if they/we are! ) There are a lot of service men and women who regularly cycle - be it commuting, pleasure, sport, touring, tri etc.
    Lastly,, and in all fairness, ads pay for so much, things we tend to take for granted and moan about regularly...prices! Imagine if there was no advertising to support the magazine - how much would we have to pay for an issue then? How much would we have to pay for subs for membership to this site, I could go on, but I'll end it by saying it's a small price to 'pay' for a free site where people can meet and exchange ideas.
    And don't forget the people who are out on the fronts all over the world so we can all sleep safer at night! :D
    FCN 1

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