deadly downtube

I don't watch much TV, but I just saw a CocaCola commercial that was all about building tall bikes and tall bike jousting.... omg!! @(*$&)(@*&%^%)*&(@#%^@Y)(%*@&%$*@#^%$@^%R#&$#$

crushkilldstroy

i saw that commercial a few weeks ago.

i immediately took a 10lb sledge to the television and jumped off of my friend's balcony.

mikorp

the problem with that is the bikes are made by sf fame crew cyclecide. leave it to coke to hire casting agents and location scouts to find cool pop culture, seek it, pay them 500$ and make a fake documentry about....

jaypee

Why is that a problem? That's what corporations DO. That's what marketing people DO. If anything, get riled about fringe culture elements acquiescing to their needs.

phidauex

The cyclecide guys are pretty cool people. If someone offered YOU thousands and thousands of dollars to be on a commercial, I bet you'd do it. Its easy to ***** about other people being corporate *****s, but wouldn't you like to have your rent for the next two years paid? What about that perfect new track bike you've been seeing in the window? It could be yours all for dicking around on camera for a few minutes... I'd probably do it, honestly.

Just remember, you aren't a person, you are a market. Nothing is sacred, and nothing is free. Imagine the first rock and roll song that was used on a commercial. It probably broke Chuck Berry's heart. But he got on with things. If you let it change who you are, then you've given up to it. Personally, I don't watch TV, so I haven't even seen the ad, but people have mentioned it to me. I hope I don't see it.

peace,
sam

BadAssBiker

alt bikes

lotek 

agreed

phidauex

Most tall bikes are single speed. But yeah, its more of an alt bike thing.

peace,
sam

wearyourtruth

i hate the commerical with all the people singing on the roof and holding their cokes up to the sun a lot more. i also hate the DJ chick in the middle of nowhere one more.

glinmaleldur

as long as people value craft, which to me seems a huge part of freak bike culture, noobs on store-boughts will have a hard time breaking in. and if they make their own clubs and start jousting, that just means more people to joust against.

i've thought a lot about jousting, and it seems like it's stuck at a basic level. i would hesitate to change much because to me it's not about winning, but i'm a medieval european history major and the parallels inspire me. i'm talking about wieghted lances (so you can grip them almost at the end and it will be balanced, allowing for great point control), saddles resembling jousting saddles (with a raised back for support), and my dream would be rein-controlled steering, so shields could be incorporated. oh, and people should pass the opposite direction. this **** would be wicked cool but probably put someone at a wicked advantage to another jouster with a standard lance and saddle.

erok

i'm pretty sure those guys were from black label, who have clubs in brooklyn and minneapolis. a friend of mine who is in BL, said that at the national meeting, they stripped that kids colors off of his jacket for doing that commercial and made him apologise to the group. i think it's pretty stupid to have done the commercial personally.

crank'n

Did you or your tv hit the ground first? any vidieo? would make a great mithbusters story:

fking

I was shocked to first see the Coke commercial with tall bikes jousting. The director for my movie B.I.K.E. which is premiereing at this year's Slamdance Film Festival, mentioned the phenomenon during an advertising input session for Coke and the next thing you know, bam, it's all over the place.

Artkansas 

I wouldn't worry too much until Giant or Trek start coming out with tall bike models. Building a bike from parts is still beyond most peoples skill level.

garden_lark

i'm glad i haven't seen it, but doing anything about it would be way beyond me anyway.

i can build a bike, but i can't be arsd with protesting.

coke... ew. anyone who wants to be sick can do an image search on "coca cola bike"

JoeUser

I don't see how Coke showing jousting in a commercial hurts you guys. It seems like maybe it upsets you because it's something cool that you found and you want to keep it to yourself. It reminds me of indie rock. Someone can do something really cool and you love it. Then they get paid for it and you call them sellouts and say the music sucks. But you guys whining about this is even worse than that. In the music industry, the big-wigs tell artists what to do. I agree, that could hurt the music. But, commercial exposition doesn't hurt sports. If anything, it improves them. Nobody tells football coaches what play to use or lance armstrong when to stand up and pump. God forbid the guy in the commercial finally has enough money to buy his own welder or some new materials. Somebody who has never even seen a tall bike would probably think that guys that make bikes like the one in that commercial were really cool, but if they read this thread, they might think those guys are d**ks. Quit being so selfish and get over yourselves or do what crushkilldstroy did and jump off a balcony.

Johnny Payphone

In general everybody's looking for ways to hustle some bucks out of the Man, but it's up to you how exactly you accomplish that. I thought that they had basically put the lean on Cyclecide, told them they'd use actors if they didn't take the cashish. Perhaps they felt they might as well represent.

The problem is, as my header says, it's not a fad or a thing or a product or a movement, it's just what we do. So coolhunters are always looking for that sort of thing, and they found it. Specifically, they found it in The Winking Circle, an indie film that they ripped off scene-by-scene.
You be the judge!

Was it Jacob who steered them our way? Who can say? Chunk has said no to MTV (reality TV show pilot... ugh), Zoobomb said "call my agent" to Adidas, Cyclecide did a few seconds of film for Coke... I told Vice and Puma to kiss my ass and you can find their retort in the Chicago insert of the We Love Cops issue. Puma did score "Bike Gangs of New York" but that was a pretty cool documentary. Corporations are slobbering to get their teeth into this thing. The main problem is that, like grafitti, you can't charge people to sign up and pay to do it. The whole point is that you did it yourself, and that it's dangerous and sometimes illegal. So they attempt to approach it obliquely. Johnny Payphone's Pro Chopper will come out on the Playstation 7. You get to virtually build a chopper and ride it around a simulation of your own neighborhood, provided by Google Earth. With the special accessory lo-jack cord you won't even have to use your hands on the controller.

I was there when that guy got his colors ripped off. BLBC said "hey, you know that's not what we do" and he knew it too.

BLBC also refused to talk to the Village Voice (as did I) when they ran their article "Mutant Bicycle Clubs... the New Seat of Anarchy!" You hear that? The seat! The leaders of anarchy! The Wall Street Journal mentioned it too! Skunk hadn't heard of the Village Voice but he was baffled by this lady's outlaw impressions of what we do. Oh yeah and Brooklyn Industries is the example of what happens to a company that tries to sell the Bike Club image, which is exactly what I told Vice/Puma.

Oh and I've seen chopper Coke ads in british magazines, one guy was giving his piglet a ride on the handlebars. Maybe they ripped off C.H.V.C.K.E.N. 666. So they'll get us, but the more we fight they more indirectly they'll be able to exploit us. Just don't think you're gonna get rich off of the thing you love to do for fun. Somebody else might get rich using you, but why not try and create something that "exploits" choppers in a good way and pays you too? Like a kid's club, community bike shop, something like that. I always try to work with indie journalists (and student documentarians) to spread the word to the right folks. Nothing to it but to do it... just make it experiential, and not a transaction. Who wants to be a chopper factory worker? Or have MTV filming your house?

pinkfixie

I swoon to the Payphone tune!

come and visit me in LA and spread the Rat Patrol love...