Giro ad on US TV - Contador

[Mr.DNA]

I wonder if that spot was written by Fabiani.

 

[patricknd]

I really like this Commercial even more now that you all are crying so much about it.

You decide.

"where's the beef"?

"eat more chicken"

I wish they could have worked those two lines into the fraud / cheat / classic liar commercial. Maybe have a montage of LA and the toypistol together side by side lying there asses off in different languages but telling basically the same BS.

Don't sugar coat it, tell us how you really feel

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I wrote to RCS Sports and others about it yesterday, including Marca, who is owned by them. They posted this:

http://www.marca.com/2011/04/12/ciclismo/1302606188.html

If Universal Sports wants to attract American viewers to the sport, there's so much positive they could do with the Giro - epic climbs, Tifosi, the cities, etc. Instead they choose to attack Contador. I'm not sure how watching the race in May would help people figure out how .0000000005 grams of Clenbuterol got into his system one day in July. Do they really thing their ad would convince someone to pay $14.95 to watch a race online?

I sent the link to some Italian sites, hoping it would get to Zomegnan.

Neither Versus or Universal Sports will ever see a dime of my money, based on past issues as well as this one.

I am sure writing them will do allot of good. They would have never seen a dime of your money anyhow.

The folks who are paying for that 14.95 are probably all the folks who belong to the livestrong cult that you probably would not approve.

 

[nowhereman]

To get right to the point, who gives a Phug what "YOU" decide. That's the problem with todays society. They'd like to make you think it's important what "you" think. Let the hounds of the media loose, and they'd eat their own babies, like Versus is trying to do. I think their promo is despicable, Versus has really sucked for quite some time now, so it's no surprise that they are attempting to exploit this situation in such a crass manner.

 

[nowhereman]

To get right to the point, who gives a Phug what "YOU" decide. That's the problem with todays society. They'd like to make you think it's important what "you" think. Let the hounds of the media loose, and they'd eat their own babies, just like Universal is trying to do. I think their promo is despicable, and I won't be giving them any of my money to see their coverage of the Giro live. I'll wait 'til they air it on my cable service, and watch it for free. along with the other channels I pay for. Universal blows for their attempt to exploit the situation in such a crass manner, while they hope to benefit from it, on the other end. Their promo strategy reeks of desperation, and disrespect for cycling.

 

[barn yard]

did universal forget that captain cancer was under federal investigation at the time of last year's tour?

 

[Granville57]

...surely the use of the words 'fraud' and 'cheat' are defamatory in any context and if I was Contador I would be asking my solicitors to look at this.

Plus, the whole thing is made even more absurd considering the other well known, previous TdF winner who is currently under suspicion.

To get right to the point, who gives a Phug what "YOU" decide. That's the problem with todays society. They'd like to make you think it's important what "you" think.

What angered me the most is the final line- "You decide".

Exactly! Because ultimately, how the hell does watching the Giro on Univ Sports help one "decide." That is the implication of what they are offering.
"Watch our fabulous broadcast and decide." Decide what?

Oh, Contador looks strong on this climb, he must've cheated last year at the TdF and must be cheating now!
or
Wow, AC just got smoked in the ITT, he must be a clean rider who has good and bad days just like everyone else.

Is that what they are expecting from their viewers?

I hope the f'ing irresponsible morons that conceived this campaign are proud enough to stand up and claim credit for it. I'd really like to know who is behind it.

I've already heard from friends (ones that don't even follow pro cycling regularly) who are dumbfounded by the crassness and stupidity of this ad.

Congratulations Universal/Versus!
I hope someone from your Cub Scout Cabal is tuning into this.

 

[M Sport]

What angered me the most is the final line- "You decide". Love Contador or hate him, its already been decided ......

Yes, had to have a laugh at that one. You only have to wade through the Contador threads in this sub-forum to realise the vast majority of fans aren't qualified to decide (from both sides).

The ad is a disgrace.

 

[rhubroma]

These are the same people who thought, without a moment of reflection, that Contador's duty was to lay down, die, and hand over the Tour for the glorious Armstrong 2.0 Comeback Machine.

So their bias is expected. The American cycling media has beaten that dog to death and could not handle any reality that deviated from the script.

No, this is certainly not the way it should promote the 2011 Giro D'Italia, but they have an obvious axe to grind and are told by their producers which track to take. So they take it.

It is an unfortunate choice they have made, but they are going to stick to it until the very end. And if Armstrong is ever found in a court of law to be a doper, they will still throw a parade for him because at this point the fanboys truly believe doping was just part of the game, and like the focus and training it takes to win the Tour, they believe it takes an iron will to also out-dope the whole peloton, so he wins in that regard also.

Winning...duh!!!

It's a tasteless propaganda stunt, which reflects the quality of the product.

In a land that professes that such things should be tried in the court and not within the private media, it only demonstrates how jingoistic things have become, and stupid.

Sure Contador has doped, but his questionable champions status is being inderectly played against a certain Texan who was the biggest fraud of them all and by those who made a killing off his doping. What hypocrisy.

PS: Can we imagine a similar commercial about Lance after his 6 99 Tour blood samples with EPO?

 

[Mellow Velo]

A pity Universal don't have the rights to televise Lance's upcoming little showpiece.
The line to sell the show would only need some minor alterations:
"A fraud or a lord?...............the jury decides."

Maybe it's just a sad indictment the Universal believe their target audience are more interested in the performance enhancing properties of miniscule amounts of Clenbuterol, than Monte Zoncolan or Colle delle Finestre.

 

[roundabout]

It's quite a brave move for a channel promoting their coverage of cycling to describe the main protagonist with a lot more honesty than just about any cycling commercial i've ever seen.

 

[Astana1]

I don 't see what is so shocking about this promotion. People like interesting and controversy is interesting. It think it's better to acknowledge that Clenbutador is probably a cheat than is to pretend that nothing ever happened.

 

[Astana1]

Plus, this could all just be a witch hunt. Clenbutador has given alot of hope to midget Spaniards and has single handedly raised the public's awareness of steroids in the food supply.

If you are against Contador then you are clearly in favor of contaminated food.

 

[jimmypop]

It is an unfortunate choice they have made, but they are going to stick to it until the very end. And if Armstrong is ever found in a court of law to be a doper, they will still throw a parade for him because at this point the fanboys truly believe doping was just part of the game, and like the focus and training it takes to win the Tour, they believe it takes an iron will to also out-dope the whole peloton, so he wins in that regard also.

Winning...duh!!!

I've heard that rationalization in person already. To paraphrase, "Well, everyone was doping, and Armstrong was smart enough to hire Ferrari and engage the most effective doping practices."

In other words, win at all costs. At this point, I feel full-on physical contact and bike sabotage are the only ways to make the sport more interesting to some.

 

[Angliru]

I don 't see what is so shocking about this promotion. People like interesting and controversy is interesting. It think it's better to acknowledge that Clenbutador is probably a cheat than is to pretend that nothing ever happened.

You have as your event one with virtually a century long of rich tradition, history, champions and drama to pull from and you choose to focus on a completely negative aspect of the sport, an aspect that at this moment is yet to be decided legally? This has to be by far the worst ad campaign for a sporting event that I've ever seen. Universal shows complete and utter disrespect for the Giro as one of the pinnacle events of the sport and the same disrespect for their audience. It is beyond shameful.

 

[nowhereman]

It's quite a brave move for a channel promoting their coverage of cycling to describe the main protagonist with a lot more honesty than just about any cycling commercial i've ever seen.

Your POV regardng honesty shows you just how subjective HONESTY has become these days. Universal has no right to frame the question the way they did. It's like leading the jury. They show you Andy stalling and AC passing him at the chaingate moment, and then, based on previous "indiscretion", they ask you to connect the dots on this serial outlaw. And then demand that YOU decide. In this case, I think you, and many others, have already decided. But HONESTY has nothing to do with this batch of garbage. Universal sux, plain and simple.

 

[Astana1]

You have as your event one with virtually a century long of rich tradition, history, champions and drama to pull from and you choose to focus on a completely negative aspect of the sport, an aspect that at this moment is yet to be decided legally? This has to be by far the worst ad campaign for a sporting event that I've ever seen. Universal shows complete and utter disrespect for the Giro as one of the pinnacle events of the sport and the same disrespect for their audience. It is beyond shameful.

Yeah if your sympathies lie with Contadoper and you don't believe that he is responsible for what goes in his body then I guess you would find it shameful. I think it's shameful that the sport can't get its **** together and give the guy a two year vacation.

Otherwise right on.

 

[lean mean &green]

Your POV regardng honesty shows you just how subjective HONESTY has become these days. Universal has no right to frame the question the way they did. It's like leading the jury. They show you Andy stalling and AC passing him at the chaingate moment, and then, based on previous "indiscretion", they ask you to connect the dots on this serial outlaw. And then demand that YOU decide. In this case, I think you, and many others, have already decided. But HONESTY has nothing to do with this batch of garbage. Universal sux, plain and simple.

his POV is subjective but yours POV isn't?

 

[roundabout]

1. I am not the jury.

2. I don't watch Universal.

3. A 12 second clip has no bearing on what I believe about Contador.

4. Contador tested positive and has a CAS hearing coming up where he might lose the Giro result.

5. Given that you think that for once calling spade a spade is disrespectful to cycling my point about honesty is wasted on the likes of you. So no need for highlighting and capitals.

6. I don't see what Universal's quality as a channel has to do with my post.

 

[lean mean &green]

I don 't see what is so shocking about this promotion. People like interesting and controversy is interesting. It think it's better to acknowledge that Clenbutador is probably a cheat than is to pretend that nothing ever happened.

agree, i don't love the ad but it's a harsh reality.

Plus, this could all just be a witch hunt. Clenbutador has given alot of hope to midget Spaniards and has single handedly raised the public's awareness of steroids in the food supply.

If you are against Contador then you are clearly in favor of contaminated food.

the parallels between the way people are defending AC and "he who must remain nameless" are growing more obvious each day. some posts are starting to look like they were written by polish or flicker and that's the greatest insult i can think of in this forum.

Yeah if your sympathies lie with Contadoper and you don't believe that he is responsible for what goes in his body then I guess you would find it shameful. I think it's shameful that the sport can't get its **** together and give the guy a two year vacation.

Otherwise right on.

mostly agree but you might be oversimplifying a bit. some folks will say they think contador should be sanctioned but just don't like promoting the sport in this way. personally i don't love or hate the commercial - mostly indifferent and i think it's pretty inconsequential in the grander scheme of things.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I wonder if they will be making more adverts featuring cyclists misdemeanors: Levi and his positive test and ban, Kloden and his past, HGH and their past, Menchov and Vienna, DDL/Basso etc

 

[Andynonomous]

All publicity is good.

Although, in some ways it is unfair to cycling (since other sports are at least as bad), and unfair to Contador (he was unlucky enough to get caught by a more sensitive test while most other elite riders were lucky enough to avoid a positive), bringing the problem out into the open will put more pressure on the authorities to take the problem seriously.

At the moment, the UCI mostly just pays lip service to preventing doping. I'll bet if this campaign generates publicity in the main stream media (CNN, ABC,...), McQuaid will start to "sweat" a little.

 

[flicker]

These are the same people who thought, without a moment of reflection, that Contador's duty was to lay down, die, and hand over the Tour for the glorious Armstrong 2.0 Comeback Machine.

So their bias is expected. The American cycling media has beaten that dog to death and could not handle any reality that deviated from the script.

No, this is certainly not the way it should promote the 2011 Giro D'Italia, but they have an obvious axe to grind and are told by their producers which track to take. So they take it.

It is an unfortunate choice they have made, but they are going to stick to it until the very end. And if Armstrong is ever found in a court of law to be a doper, they will still throw a parade for him because at this point the fanboys truly believe doping was just part of the game, and like the focus and training it takes to win the Tour, they believe it takes an iron will to also out-dope the whole peloton, so he wins in that regard also.

Winning...duh!!!

Unfortunatly, doping is a part of the game, see Landis, Ricco, Bonds, Manny Ramirez,etc. Nothing specifically here as an Armstrong admirer, but we need to look in the mirror and say this to ourselves, pro sports are a doping game, and culture etc. Cycling, horse racing, and boxing are the forerunners but unfortunately it has invaded amateur,Olympic, Championship, and even Masters cycling. Watch the A+E Special about Armstrong, he mentions doping in the first Olympics. It sounds far fetched but knowing the nature of human beings, Lances' interview could have many grains of truth.

 

[alpine_chav]

Oh my god the outrage... ad says what's on everyones mind!!!

How could they!?

 

[pmcg76]

It might be what everyone is thinking but why would such an approach only be applied to Contador. Even though Contador is more than likely guilty, he is still riding and his case has not yet been resolved. I am sure Basso & Di Luca, two of the challengers were not given the same treatment. Are they soemhow less guilty than Contador.

You can bet your bottom dollar if it was a certain other ex-rider who is also under investigation, they would not have taken this approach.

I think Contador was painted as the bad guy in the US in 09 and they want to keep this view of him to add a bit of drama to the sport.

Understandable but totally hypocritical and not the way to promote an event.