Yesterday I came upon an entertaining bike commuting video from a beer company in Belgium.
Considering the recent postings of the last 2 State Farm commercials where they show "life can be hard after a car accident" and you may be forced to commute by bicycle I thought the contrast was telling.
It's not like Belgium doesn't have it's share of automotive commuters that sit in traffic jams as they do in the states, it's just that cultural divide in attitude regarding the bicycle is wide.
On the first State Farm thread, Allister posted, I think you'll find that advertising reflects the culture, not the other way around. I agree and here's some film that shows the contrast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STn7GvYUxL0
(this morning, it seems youtube isn't coming up for me, so here's an alternative link, through the producing company's website)
http://www.newbelgium.com/flash/
click on films, click on launch player, then click on the top film, "team wonderbike commute".
I'm just wondering, does everyone else get a reception when arriving at work like the one at the end of the video? I know I don't.
Allister
04-22-08, 08:53 AM
I'll drink to that!
closetbiker
04-22-08, 08:57 AM
me too :beer:
twinquad
04-22-08, 09:07 AM
Um, New Belgium is in Colorado - they brew Belgian style beers. But serveral Colorado cities are pretty bike-friendly (Denver, Boulder, New Belgium's home of Fort Collins).
Bottoms up!
closetbiker
04-22-08, 09:31 AM
well then, that would explain the traffic jam (and the American flag by the side of the road).
did I just blow the point of the thread? on such an obvious lead in? looking for what I want? maybe it was the suit on the rider, brief case on the rack of the cruiser, and lack of helmet or dancing at work that threw me.
zeytoun
04-22-08, 09:44 AM
Um, New Belgium is in Colorado - they brew Belgian style beers.
They also sell a wool cycling jersey on their website
dobber
04-22-08, 10:05 AM
I was hoping this was about Waffles
girljen
04-22-08, 10:33 AM
Um, New Belgium is in Colorado - they brew Belgian style beers. But serveral Colorado cities are pretty bike-friendly (Denver, Boulder, New Belgium's home of Fort Collins).
Bottoms up!
Boulder is the most bike-friendly city I've ever seen. :love: I live and ride in a suburb of Denver, and our area isn't bad either.
Anyway, I wish New Belgium would put this commercial on network TV. I think it would have an impact in Colorado. "The cool kids at New Belgium ride bikes, why can't you?"
harleyfrog
04-22-08, 10:52 AM
I was hoping this was about Waffles
If it's waffles you want, you should come down to the Gulf Coast. Waffle House (http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=waffle+house,&near=Gulfport,+MS&fb=1&view=text&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=4&ct=more-results&cd=1) is putting up more stores than FEMA is building houses. I think they're trying to be the Starbucks of the South. :lol:
politicalgeek
04-22-08, 11:24 AM
well then, that would explain the traffic jam (and the American flag by the side of the road).
did I just blow the point of the thread? on such an obvious lead in? looking for what I want? maybe it was the suit on the rider, brief case on the rack of the cruiser, and lack of helmet or dancing at work that threw me.
I don't think you lost the point at all. Relating back to the State Farm thread:
1) Positive imagery can exist in the United States for bicycling. The driver and the cars in this ad were not as grossly exaggerated as the bicyclists in either of the insurance ads were.
2) Rather than making an absurd image, the producers here simply showed a compare and contrast between the two. Drivers commonly deal with gridlock and congestion, long wait times at traffic lights and so on. To me it didn't degrade car culture, just showed a positive alternative that someone could relate to.
Geonz
04-22-08, 11:35 AM
I got a good laugh at that, too.
It says something about our culture (and attention span) taht we assume something that bicycle-friendly must be foreign!
I-Like-To-Bike
04-22-08, 11:46 AM
Yesterday I came upon an entertaining bike commuting video from a beer company in Belgium...
SNIP
[The culture here is this and the culture there is that]
Too funny!
Lot's Knife
04-23-08, 03:18 AM
Um, New Belgium is in Colorado - they brew Belgian style beers.
That's a very generous description of New Belgium. Ommegang and Lost Abbey, maybe.
Another reason not to drink and post. The small democratic nation of Belgium has nothing to do with this topic, despite its title.
MrCjolsen
04-23-08, 06:19 AM
If it's waffles you want, you should come down to the Gulf Coast. Waffle House (http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=waffle+house,&near=Gulfport,+MS&fb=1&view=text&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=4&ct=more-results&cd=1) is putting up more stores than FEMA is building houses. I think they're trying to be the Starbucks of the South. :lol:
Mmmmmm. Waffle House. I so miss the little yellow buildings with all their plates of yellow food. I long for a Cheesy Egg Special.
I don't think you lost the point at all. Relating back to the State Farm thread:
1) Positive imagery can exist in the United States for bicycling. The driver and the cars in this ad were not as grossly exaggerated as the bicyclists in either of the insurance ads were.
2) Rather than making an absurd image, the producers here simply showed a compare and contrast between the two. Drivers commonly deal with gridlock and congestion, long wait times at traffic lights and so on. To me it didn't degrade car culture, just showed a positive alternative that someone could relate to.
At least someone here's taking this stuff seriously. Shame on the rest of you.
Is that the latest Styrofoam nose/face protector from Bell? How many grams does it weigh? There should be a law requiring its use by all cyclists, just to be safe, eh? ;)
UnsafeAlpine
04-23-08, 11:14 AM
I used to live in Fort Collins. New Belgium is one on the best companies in town in terms of environmentally friendly, bike friendly, and employee friendly. Fort Collins itself is also *mostly* bike friendly. I lived there for 3 months last summer and drove twice, but only because I had to pick up some crap that was to big to fit on my bike. If you can avoid the few major roads in town, you'll be riding with a huge number of other cyclists.
closetbiker
04-23-08, 12:56 PM
Is that the latest Styrofoam nose/face protector from Bell? How many grams does it weigh? There should be a law requiring its use by all cyclists, just to be safe, eh? ;)
funny how that line of reasoning occurs in other ways too. Our great govt' has determined that BPA is to be banned even though there is no evidence it is harmful, just to be safe.
The federal government is using a dangerously narrow definition of risk in its decision to restrict the use of a Bisphenol A, a chemical that has been in common use for more than a generation in the manufacture of thousands of common items...
...The precautionary principle would suggest we should not provoke such large-scale changes without proof that we are not causing other harms. We have no such proof. What we have is a tempest in a test-tube that may yet blow up in our faces.
harleyfrog
04-23-08, 01:38 PM
funny how that line of reasoning occurs in other ways too. Our great govt' has determined that BPA is to be banned even though there is no evidence it is harmful, just to be safe.
The federal government is using a dangerously narrow definition of risk in its decision to restrict the use of a Bisphenol A, a chemical that has been in common use for more than a generation in the manufacture of thousands of common items...
...The precautionary principle would suggest we should not provoke such large-scale changes without proof that we are not causing other harms. We have no such proof. What we have is a tempest in a test-tube that may yet blow up in our faces.
In other words, I'll give up my Nalgene bottles after they pry them from my cold, dead hands. ;)
My wife and I discussed this very topic the other day, and I was (and still am) of the position that this is (to paraphrase William Shakespeare) much to do about not much.
stevo9er
04-23-08, 01:54 PM
Haha, that video is great.
I-Like-To-Bike
04-23-08, 03:28 PM
In other words, I'll give up my Nalgene bottles after they pry them from my cold, dead hands. ;)
Maybe those bottles can be recycled into raw material for bicycle helmets or nose protectors.
rando
04-23-08, 04:01 PM
can it get any better than biking and beer? maybe with babes.
closetbiker
04-23-08, 04:51 PM
Maybe those bottles can be recycled into raw material for bicycle helmets or nose protectors.
Maybe I should start a scare campaign that says BPA is used in cycling helmets and that may lead to brain cancer.
crhilton
04-23-08, 06:02 PM
Yesterday I came upon an entertaining bike commuting video from a beer company in Belgium.
Considering the recent postings of the last 2 State Farm commercials where they show "life can be hard after a car accident" and you may be forced to commute by bicycle I thought the contrast was telling.
It's not like Belgium doesn't have it's share of automotive commuters that sit in traffic jams as they do in the states, it's just that cultural divide in attitude regarding the bicycle is wide.
On the first State Farm thread, Allister posted, I think you'll find that advertising reflects the culture, not the other way around. I agree and here's some film that shows the contrast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STn7GvYUxL0
(this morning, it seems youtube isn't coming up for me, so here's an alternative link, through the producing company's website)
http://www.newbelgium.com/flash/
click on films, click on launch player, then click on the top film, "team wonderbike commute".
I'm just wondering, does everyone else get a reception when arriving at work like the one at the end of the video? I know I don't.
Isn't New Belgium in Colorado? I believe they make Fat Tire Amber Ale, which I do love :)
Maybe I should start a scare campaign that says BPA is used in cycling helmets and that may lead to brain cancer.
But a tinfoil liner can't hurt and might do some good; better to be safe than sorry I always say.
I-Like-To-Bike
04-23-08, 06:55 PM
can it get any better than biking and beer? maybe with babes.
Raise your glass and offer a toast to the Serious Cyclist's Trifecta!
I-Like-To-Bike
04-23-08, 07:01 PM
Isn't New Belgium in Colorado? I believe they make Fat Tire Amber Ale, which I do love :)
When you are ready for the Real Deal, and mucho miles per gallon try:
buzzman
04-23-08, 10:12 PM
well then, that would explain the traffic jam (and the American flag by the side of the road).
did I just blow the point of the thread? on such an obvious lead in? looking for what I want? maybe it was the suit on the rider, brief case on the rack of the cruiser, and lack of helmet or dancing at work that threw me.
cool thread! loved that you took it as a Belgium thing versus and American thing and then owned up to it with a good laugh. but I don't think it diminished the thread at all. All culture, like all politics, is local. Yes, there is an overall US mindset but Belgium is a small country and at 11730 square miles about the size of the state of Maryland. Colorado is 104100 square miles about 9 times the size of Belgium. The bike culture in Denver, Boulder and other parts of Colorado is as legitimate as if it were in another country in my opinion.
And the ad was great fun thanks for the link!
MrCjolsen
04-24-08, 06:39 AM
I've come to realized two things from this thread.
1. A&S people need to get out more. It's ironic that the Belgium - Colorado mix up was initiated by a poster called Closetbiker.
2. I need to drink a lot more Fat Tire Ale.
crhilton
04-24-08, 07:05 AM
Bummer, no IPA.
They make pretty malty beers. Which is why I'm a big fan. So, I doubt they'd do a good IPA.
Bekologist
04-24-08, 07:24 AM
If you dig around New Belgium's website you can find some truly inspiring short films they passed off as TV commercials. The 90 second clip is stuffed chock full of bike goodness.
closetbiker
04-24-08, 08:04 AM
cool thread! loved that you took it as a Belgium thing versus and American thing and then owned up to it with a good laugh...
If you don't admit when you've made a mistake, how can people believe you as someone who tries to be honest?
(and yes, I guess it still shows the cultural differences between different groups - even if they are from the same country - heck, they can even be from next door. My next door neighbor drives to her work 1 kilometer from her home and some of my co-workers drive to the airport when they live less just next to the airport and they have to stay stuck in traffic because the airport is next to a pinch point of commuters getting into Vancouver)
Bekologist
04-24-08, 08:18 AM
Good news for boozy bikers! Just in time for summer 2008- Fat Tire in cans!
The New Belgium TV ads are really good. i think they took down the 90 second anthem, but the 60 second tinkerer spot is most inspiring. The music by Devendra Banhart is mystical.