PR puffery

Kléber

Pro cycling = marketing

But some of the media releases we get are bonkers. Take this from Garmin, they've just signed a new sponsor, Transitions and will be known as Garmin-Transitions in 2010. Big news and you'd expect a press release. It's here. But who writes these things? Transitions make sunglasses and so...

“Our riders are constantly going through different lighting conditions while training and racing. If we can increase visual acuity and reduce visual fatigue, that gives us a big advantage on the road,” said Jonathan Vaughters

A big advantage? Well, I must be getting old, my memory is going. I don't remember the last time a rider said "my eyes were tired, I couldn't respond to Contador's move" but I'm probably just getting amnesia. Surely though they'd do better to explain why their products are suited to the Garmin, rather than making outlandish claims about fatigue and "big advantages"?

Or take the way the London-Paris corporate bike ride manages to write similar PR nonsense. Cyclingnews.com seems to have copied and pasted an entire press release! In the article Magnus Backstedt is attributed with this gem:

"London-Paris was one of few events I heard a lot about when I was a professional rider out in Europe and I have always said I would love to ride it one day"

So we're expected to believe the pros haven't heard of many events, but London-Paris shines out like a beacon through the dense fog of unpronounceable Flemish terms like Ronde Van Vlaanderen or undecipherable French like Tour de France? Maggie follows up his choice quote with:

"Knowing people who've ridden L2P and having heard so many great things about it, I couldn't resist riding when the opportunity came up for 2010."

Of course, I'm sure it had nothing to do with a cash payment

I know people need to market things but when comments are stretched too far, well it just makes me laugh and I struggle to take the content seriously, it reads like it was written by a public relations trainee with no knowledge of a complex, sophisticated and historic sport.

DaveyL

They *don't* give you a big advantage?

Bollox, I've just ordered a pair!



(Yes, it is dross - I saw that this morning and almost heaved. Would be good to go back and look at what they said when Chipotle signed up as co-sponsors!)

stagehopper

Kléber wrote:

So we're expected to believe the pros haven't heard of many events, but London-Paris shines out like a beacon through the dense fog of unpronounceable Flemish terms like Ronde Van Vlaanderen or undecipherable French like Tour de France?

Tough agreeing with you entirely on the ridiculous PR guff, isn't Magnus here referring to pro-am sportives not mainstream events?

iainf72

Well, we'll see who's laughing next year when they're winning loads of races.

calvjones

Even so.... There are about a million pro-am races I'd think of before L-P.

PR is the realm of sociopathic, self obsessed adolescents who can't write and have zero incentive to learn anything about anything. It's to sport's eternal shame that it pays for some of the most nonsensical excesses of this parasitic 'industry' whilst consequentially killing real journalism in the area.

Or maybe I'm being harshB :twisted:

finchy

calvjones wrote:

PR is the realm of sociopathic, self obsessed adolescents who can't write and have zero incentive to learn anything about anything. It's to sport's eternal shame that it pays for some of the most nonsensical excesses of this parasitic 'industry' whilst consequentially killing real journalism in the area.

The PR industry brings wealth creators closer to consumers, contributing to a synergetic world and filling the endless, gnawing void that lies within our souls.

JC.152

garmins PR must be working though cos your talking about it on here, even if none of its true and its not like they didnt have sunglasses this season

SpaceJunk

You might be scoffing at Garmin now, but come July when Wiggins wins the TdF and tells all that his victory came about due to his eyewear, I expect you to then apologise to JV.

andyp

If Wiggins wins the Tour won't Dave Brailsford and Team Sky being getting the credit rather than Slipstream? :twisted:

finchy

JC.152 wrote:

garmins PR must be working though cos your talking about it on here, even if none of its true and its not like they didnt have sunglasses this season

Without looking at the first post, I honestly can't even remember the name of the sunglasses.

micron

This is obviously JV hitting back at DB in the fake science wars - 'I see your happy ant chimps and raise you race winning visual acuity!'

dave_1

i found JVs comments on how great the lenses will be for their racing and how he's used them for 5 years a little insulting, ...even lance didn't say he sat and watched discovery ch everyday or always used USPS ... But Vaughters hasn't brough any positive dope tests to the sport so perhaps he's genuine

dulldave

Nice try Dave, let's get back to talking about Garmin not Lance.

It is a but cheesy when people come out with this stuff but it's not just JV. The Paris-Roubaix episode of Bartape was a uit like that toward the Cervelo bikes.

Anonymous

I pi55ed myself when I read the transition PR....

Twitter is becoming more and more like spam-fest every week...

panachedujour

micron wrote:

This is obviously JV hitting back at DB in the fake science wars - 'I see your happy ant chimps and raise you race winning visual acuity!'

NapoleonD wrote:

Twitter is becoming more and more like spam-fest every week...

I couldn't have said it better myself. That’s precisely why the venom spewing Micron a.k.a. BianchiGirl a.k.a. FestinaGirl and other assorted pseudonyms is posting her chimp like nastiness on twitter. Spam indeed.

http://twitter.com/Festinagirl

micron

Panache, you know, the best thing to do with opinions that threaten you is probably to ignore them - don't you just delete spam like everyone else?

Guess I won't be counting you amongst my minuscule band of followers then?

blazing_saddles

panachedujour wrote:

micron wrote:

This is obviously JV hitting back at DB in the fake science wars - 'I see your happy ant chimps and raise you race winning visual acuity!'

NapoleonD wrote:

Twitter is becoming more and more like spam-fest every week...

I couldn't have said it better myself. That’s precisely why the venom spewing Micron a.k.a. BianchiGirl a.k.a. FestinaGirl and other assorted pseudonyms is posting her chimp like nastiness on twitter. Spam indeed.

http://twitter.com/Festinagirl

So what's your post then? Anti-venom, I take it. Made from the same stuff.
I think I prefer her spam to your french shandy.

micron

guess I should really thank shandy for the publicity

ON topic, I think Kleber's point is a good one - all mindless PR spin serves to do is to cheapen and devalue

dave_1

dulldave wrote:

Nice try Dave, let's get back to talking about Garmin not Lance.

It is a but cheesy when people come out with this stuff but it's not just JV. The Paris-Roubaix episode of Bartape was a uit like that toward the Cervelo bikes.

agreed...they take us for total idiots at times...JV has maybe let the success of his clean team marketing go to his head. his twitter on the new sponsor was insulting to followers of his team

panachedujour

micron wrote:

Panache, you know, the best thing to do with opinions that threaten you is probably to ignore them - don't you just delete spam like everyone else?

Guess I won't be counting you amongst my minuscule band of followers then?

Ah BG, it's nice to note my wee truth got under your reptile skin. Obviously my post threatened you, thus a response. I'll let your wear your forked Twit crown in peace, after all you do wear it proudly.

micron

PDJ, not quite sure what your point is but perhaps better made in a PM?

Dave_1 unfortunately it's the way of the world - soundbites that appear portentous but mean nothing - just part of the general trend to dumb down and assume that we're all morons. Hopefully cycling can escape the worst excesses

dave_1

micron wrote:

PDJ, not quite sure what your point is but perhaps better made in a PM?

Dave_1 unfortunately it's the way of the world - soundbites that appear portentous but mean nothing - just part of the general trend to dumb down and assume that we're all morons. Hopefully cycling can escape the worst excesses

yes, true, .the riders on garmin-some of them are role models, heros worshipped by the young generation so vaughters is really exploiting that market with his crass postings re "transitions". Look how many of us-me included at times- think of them as the clean team-but JV's a salesman first and foremost by the looks of it...any tactics okay by the look of it

Kléber

Dave, I think JV is more sincere, I started this message because someone in PR wrote a bizarre press release. It is most likely that the quote attributed to JV was never said, nor written by him.

Instead it is standard practice for the PR writer to "attribute" a quote to someone, so the spiel looks authentic. This is almost always the case, the same goes for Backstedt's quote, I strongly believe he didn't actually say those words but someone has penned them.

micron

That's modern sport, I suppose - and what happens when big money starts to creep into sport, even a minority one. Nicholas Portal was waxing lyrical in Equipe about the iPhone he's been given as part of basic Sky kit - some blatant product placement