"bike Culture Not For Sale"
08-02-06, 01:29 PM
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"bike Culture Not For Sale"
To clarify. This thread is not about the grafitti, but about the editorial posted below, discussing the grafitti.
I thought this piece from treehugger.com was a good response to the much discussed "protest" last spring of a brooklyn boutique. Although no one is gonna be a fan of what they see as selling out, the self righteous attitudes of vigilantes who would rather keep bike culture exclusive are only serving their own shaky ego's and do nothing to improve the world.
More people on bikes period. Bike culture should be sold...to everyone.
NY Retail Store Attacked for Bike Culture Homage
March 23, 2006 12:41 AM - Warren McLaren, Sydney
Our profilic and anonymous tipster brought this strange story to our attention. A month ago, Brooklyn Industries, purveyors of designer T-shirts and apparel, found their retail shopfront windows had been acid etched with the words "Bike Culture Not for Sale". Seems someone took umbrage at their use of home-made bikes to grace the window display. Apparently only individuals are allowed to fabricate ‘mutant bikes’, not businesses. Even if the bikes were there to bring attention to Brooklyn Industries' promotion whereby they'd donate $2 from sales of messenger bags to the non-profit Recycle-a-Bicycle. RAB informs New York kids about bike cycle, and teaches them to make their own bikes - (Holy weird twist, Batman). For a fuller background piece see the original article by Karen Tucker, in the Village Voice, where she interviews various mutant bike gangs, including C.H.U.N.K. 666, for their respective takes on the issue. Oddly C.H.U.N.K. themselves also had a charity auction to sell a mutant bike. (The pic is from their site).
We've had this discussion before, like when Nestlé introduced fair trade coffee. On one hand we demand business be more environmentally and socially engaged, and then on the other we attack them for taking just such a stance. Any wonder many business folk just throw up their hands, exclaiming; "Don't bother with that corporate social responsibility stuff, you can never please the zealots anyhow. We'll be attacked whatever we do." Could a Girlcott be a more positive solution, than negative aggression?
I thought this piece from treehugger.com was a good response to the much discussed "protest" last spring of a brooklyn boutique. Although no one is gonna be a fan of what they see as selling out, the self righteous attitudes of vigilantes who would rather keep bike culture exclusive are only serving their own shaky ego's and do nothing to improve the world.
More people on bikes period. Bike culture should be sold...to everyone.
NY Retail Store Attacked for Bike Culture Homage
March 23, 2006 12:41 AM - Warren McLaren, Sydney
Our profilic and anonymous tipster brought this strange story to our attention. A month ago, Brooklyn Industries, purveyors of designer T-shirts and apparel, found their retail shopfront windows had been acid etched with the words "Bike Culture Not for Sale". Seems someone took umbrage at their use of home-made bikes to grace the window display. Apparently only individuals are allowed to fabricate ‘mutant bikes’, not businesses. Even if the bikes were there to bring attention to Brooklyn Industries' promotion whereby they'd donate $2 from sales of messenger bags to the non-profit Recycle-a-Bicycle. RAB informs New York kids about bike cycle, and teaches them to make their own bikes - (Holy weird twist, Batman). For a fuller background piece see the original article by Karen Tucker, in the Village Voice, where she interviews various mutant bike gangs, including C.H.U.N.K. 666, for their respective takes on the issue. Oddly C.H.U.N.K. themselves also had a charity auction to sell a mutant bike. (The pic is from their site).
We've had this discussion before, like when Nestlé introduced fair trade coffee. On one hand we demand business be more environmentally and socially engaged, and then on the other we attack them for taking just such a stance. Any wonder many business folk just throw up their hands, exclaiming; "Don't bother with that corporate social responsibility stuff, you can never please the zealots anyhow. We'll be attacked whatever we do." Could a Girlcott be a more positive solution, than negative aggression?
Last edited by RedDeMartini; 08-02-06 at 03:53 PM.
08-02-06, 01:57 PM
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- big sale this week down here at Bealls (pronounced 'bellz') on 'bike messenger' shorts - US$19.99 each... (the 'family' clothing store's flyer was in Sunday's St. Pete Times)...
- so i'd say it's too late folks... time find another alt-culture?
- so i'd say it's too late folks... time find another alt-culture?
08-02-06, 02:33 PM
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Yo, check the byline. It's super-old news.
08-02-06, 03:22 PM
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not irrelevant, but i think there was a thread or two about it already.
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08-02-06, 04:00 PM
#5
aka mattio
there was a thread or two about it already indeed. and if i recall, stachemaster had a really well-written post about it. it offered a bit more nuance and most people have on this issue, which seems to be polarized along the lines of "duuuuuhhhhmmmm, don't sell bikes!" and "duuuuuhhhhhmmmmm, bikers think stores shouldn't sell bikes!"
