Giro ad on US TV - Contador

[Mrs John Murphy]

I suspect with very little anglo-phone interest in the race (ie no LL, Frodo, Farrar, CVV, Evans, etc) they are going for the 'controversy' angle as a way of trying to drum up interest.

Lets be honest its pretty hard to sell Butthead Van Garderen, Porte etc so why not get bums on seats by marketing it as the evil lying Spanish doper vs the rest.

I am quite sure that Dertie's doping will be discussed to a degree and level that you won't have heard before. I'm also quite sure that while Dertie's misdeeds will be emphasized those of DDL, Menchov, Basso, Ale-Jet etc will be airbrushed out of history.

 

[DirtyWorks]

The advert is doing its job. Any talk about the Universal/Versus is good.

The salient question for Universal/Versus remains, will the advert pull in more viewers?

Classless? Sure. But, this thing has even gotten its own thread and we're onto 7+ pages of comments and counting. Universal/Versus is the big winner.

 

[Publicus]

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.

I think you get at the problem I have with the ad. But to Mrs. John Murphy's point, they are trying to sell this product in the US market where they (along with Versus) have done a really poor job of selling the sport itself rather than pushing personalities. And frankly, AC is the only personality that has any Q-rating in the US (I'm positive there are not 100,000 people in the US who know who Scarponi or Nibali are)--and it's only in his role of bad guy who denied the great one an 8th TdF championship.

It's in poor taste (IMO), but it is provocative and controversial, which, sadly, makes it a good ad. All they were missing was some tangential link to sex and they would have hit the trifecta.

 

[Granville57]

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

If the criteria for cycling ads was "what's on everyones mind" then every Versus ad leading up to the TdU, the ToC, and the TdF for Lance 2.0 should've been saying the same thing. No f'ing way that was going to happen though. Not to mention, I'd love to see an ad for the lame Tour of California that questions the fact that AMGEN is the sponsor. The irony of that has been on plenty of people's minds.

From a purely sporting standpoint, the 2010 Giro was an amazing race with countless images that could've been used to promote the event and entice NEW viewers. But they go with this?

The advert is doing its job. Any talk about the Universal/Versus is good.

Ah, but we shouldn't we be talking about the race? They have forced the attention on themselves and not the event.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I think the point is that the media will always go for the lowest common denominator. This goes for TV as well as print media.

The target audience is not you or I but the 3wfs - the 'where is the American rider' crowd.

Now, historically the easiest way to appeal to this crowd has been to pimp the nearest english speaking rider, however, as there are no english speaking riders, they are going for controversy, which is the next easiest thing to talk about.

Dertie makes a very useful bad guy - druggie, foreign, *******, messed things up for the Sainted Lance, (I am sure Harmon, Liggett, etc are getting their talking points emailed to them as we speak).

 

[flicker]

I think the point is that the media will always go for the lowest common denominator. This goes for TV as well as print media.

The target audience is not you or I but the 3wfs - the 'where is the American rider' crowd.

Now, historically the easiest way to appeal to this crowd has been to pimp the nearest english speaking rider, however, as there are no english speaking riders, they are going for controversy, which is the next easiest thing to talk about.

Dertie makes a very useful bad guy - druggie, foreign, *******, messed things up for the Sainted Lance, (I am sure Harmon, Liggett, etc are getting their talking points emailed to them as we speak).

Could be, Americans watching the Giro, rooting for Bert to lose. Let us not forget though, his sanction is not in place as of yet.

 

[Granville57]

The target audience is not you or I but the 3wfs - the 'where is the American rider' crowd.

I suppose that's what is so disappointing. When they do ads for the Berlin marathon, or many other sports where no Americans are expected to do well, it's the drama of the event itself that gets sold.

And yes, those talking points...
To those of us who see the not-so hidden agenda, it's insulting to our intelligence.

And if they are hoping to sell subscriptions online ("Purchase for $19.99 and get exclusive live and on-demand coverage plus five issues of Bicycling magazine") then they are turning off some of the very people that might actually do that.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I suppose that's what is so disappointing. When they do ads for the Berlin marathon, or many other sports where no Americans are expected to do well, it's the drama of the event itself that gets sold.

And yes, those talking points...
To those of us who see the not-so hidden agenda, it's insulting to our intelligence.

And if they are hoping to sell subscriptions online ("Purchase for $19.99 and get exclusive live and on-demand coverage plus five issues of Bicycling magazine") then they are turning off some of the very people that might actually do that.

It's really just an extension of the anglophone rider love that the likes of Harmon (the English lang Eurosport commentator), Liggett etc have. Harmon is on record as saying that he commentates for those who don't watch cycling and aren't interested in cycling. ie talk about Lance, talk about Frodo, talk about Evans, talk about LL etc because that is what those viewers are interested in. The hardcore fans can **** off as far as he is concerned.

His view is that 'hardcore' fans like you and I are the minority of viewers, the 'where is Lance? USA, USA crowd' are the majority - and the coverage is geared towards the majority not the minority. (I also think that this is self justification for the fact that Harmon, Liggett etc are very bad commentators who are at best lazy, and at worst xenophobic, Harmon is borderline racist at times).

The other point is that it reflects the attitude that the race is not about the race but about the personalities. Which IMO is a result of the way in which cycling was marketed after 1999.

 

[nowhereman]

his POV is subjective but yours POV isn't?

It sure is subjective, but I never claimed that my candor is based on a questionable "Honesty"
In the meantime, your observation is pointless, and I'll bet you think it's a pretty witty comeback to my point. Keep trying.

 

[Barrus]

It's really just an extension of the anglophone rider love that the likes of Harmon (the English lang Eurosport commentator), Liggett etc have. Harmon is on record as saying that he commentates for those who don't watch cycling and aren't interested in cycling. ie talk about Lance, talk about Frodo, talk about Evans, talk about LL etc because that is what those viewers are interested in. The hardcore fans can **** off as far as he is concerned.

His view is that 'hardcore' fans like you and I are the minority of viewers, the 'where is Lance? USA, USA crowd' are the majority - and the coverage is geared towards the majority not the minority. (I also think that this is self justification for the fact that Harmon, Liggett etc are very bad commentators who are at best lazy, and at worst xenophobic, Harmon is borderline racist at times).

The other point is that it reflects the attitude that the race is not about the race but about the personalities. Which IMO is a result of the way in which cycling was marketed after 1999.

I believe that his could well be a downfall in the future. To completely forego a chance to educate your audience, there is no reason for them to stick around once these personalities are gone. In this manner they have aligned themselves to closely with certain riders, and when these riders do not ride their audience will immediately lose interest

 

[luckyboy]

I suspect with very little anglo-phone interest in the race (ie no LL, Frodo, Farrar, CVV, Evans, etc) they are going for the 'controversy' angle as a way of trying to drum up interest.

Lets be honest its pretty hard to sell Butthead Van Garderen, Porte etc so why not get bums on seats by marketing it as the evil lying Spanish doper vs the rest.

Should've gone with the angle that this is the most exciting GT of the year and has the best line-up of contenders.

 

[DirtyWorks]

It's really just an extension of the anglophone rider love that the likes of Harmon (the English lang Eurosport commentator), Liggett etc have. Harmon is on record as saying that he commentates for those who don't watch cycling and aren't interested in cycling. ie talk about Lance, talk about Frodo, talk about Evans, talk about LL etc because that is what those viewers are interested in. The hardcore fans can **** off as far as he is concerned.

His view is that 'hardcore' fans like you and I are the minority of viewers, the 'where is Lance? USA, USA crowd' are the majority - and the coverage is geared towards the majority not the minority. (I also think that this is self justification for the fact that Harmon, Liggett etc are very bad commentators who are at best lazy, and at worst xenophobic, Harmon is borderline racist at times).

The other point is that it reflects the attitude that the race is not about the race but about the personalities. Which IMO is a result of the way in which cycling was marketed after 1999.

I'm think I'm listening to Harmon catching up on the British Eurosport Paris-Roubaix coverage? Whoever that guy is, he doesn't insult my knowledge of the sport and keeps it broad. He's got Sean Kelly along side and sometimes Kelly makes it hard to keep it interesting. Filling dead air, *live* on a narrow topic over and over again is not an easy thing to do.

Some of you guys aren't old enough or American so you didn't have to suffer with severely condensed travel-show/human drama that American TV did to the TdF in the 1980's. It makes the versus clips I've seen tolerable. Yeah, it was that bad.

I don't think this kind of promotion will capture many new viewers. It remains to be seen what Universal's viewer ratings are going to be like. Hopefully, Todd and Steve will do the voice over.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Well yes, but the likes of Harmon etc think that the casual fan is not going to be interested in Basso vs Menchov vs Nibali vs RK.

Harmon's view (and this is reflected in his commentary) is very much that 'wogs begin at Calais' and that this view is also the view of the casual english speaking fan.

Likewise, he and Liggett both think that 'emoting' at the appropriate points is all that is needed for commentary.

This is just an extension of dumbing down in the media. It's easier to do play hunt the anglophone etc than it is to spend time educating the audience and making them fans of cycling rather than people who watch one or two races a year.

I do think that this is a problem of english language coverage - listen to French, German, Polish or Romanian coverage and you hear a completely different style of commentary with an entirely different emphasis when it comes to commentating on the race or even building up to the race.

Dirtyworks - Harmon is sometimes slightly better when there are no anglo-phone riders in contention because he is forced to do some work, but in the TDF etc he is terrible. He was dire at RVV.

 

[Angliru]

The advert is doing its job. Any talk about the Universal/Versus is good.

The salient question for Universal/Versus remains, will the advert pull in more viewers?

Classless? Sure. But, this thing has even gotten its own thread and we're onto 7+ pages of comments and counting. Universal/Versus is the big winner.

...but we're the bike geeks that are passionate about the sport. This isn't the casual sports fan bantering about this ad. With them it just enhances the stereotype that the sport is on par with professional wrestling, which IMO it definitely is not. How can they expect to draw an audience when the ad does nothing at all to advertise the attributes of the event? I would've been watching it regardless of this commercial but the casual sports fan will see the ad and not care about the event because they haven't learned anything of what should actually draw someone to follow it. As I and others have stated earlier the ad and Universal show no respect for Giro. It essentially says "There isn't anything worth mentioning about this event other than...."

 

[Granville57]

I believe that his could well be a downfall in the future. To completely forego a chance to educate your audience, there is no reason for them to stick around once these personalities are gone. In this manner they have aligned themselves to closely with certain riders, and when these riders do not ride their audience will immediately lose interest

Exactly.

Many, many sports continue to center their popularity around the individual, and then scramble desperately to anoint the next LA, MJ or whoever. In the U.S they tried to sell "soccer" by selling us David Beckham.

The tragedy of trying to do the same with cycling is that it misses the biggest selling point of all: The races themselves. It is the timelessness of Paris-Roubaix, the rich history of the Grand Tours, the legends of Lombardia that are the sport's greatest assets.

Cycling greatest selling point is the canvas upon which it takes place.
The players in the game come and go, but the backdrop and the recurring dramas remain the same.

The shorted-sightedness of the American media in all of this is astounding to me.

 

[Polish]

"Is Alberto a Champion or a Fraud"......Fraud
"Is he Honorable or a Cheat"......Cheat

That was easy. No wonder it was only a 12 second spot.

The Alberto Issue wil be THE story of this years Giro.
Distraction.
CONI President Di Rocco feels Alberto should not even start:

"If I could stop some riders from participating in the Giro, I would, starting with Contador. But that's not in my powers, so we'll think of something else."

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/coni-president-calls-for-strong-action-against-doping

 

[Granville57]

"Is Alberto a Champion or a Fraud"......Fraud
"Is he Honorable or a Cheat"......Cheat

That was easy. No wonder it was only a 12 second spot.

The Alberto Issue wil be THE story of this years Giro.
Distraction.
CONI President Di Rocco feels Alberto should not even start

Great. So if they could prevent AC from riding the Giro, then what the hell would Universal Sports be left with?

An empty vessel with which they did nothing to fill.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Exactly.

Many, many sports continue to center their popularity around the individual, and then scramble desperately to anoint the next LA, MJ or whoever. In the U.S they tried to sell "soccer" by selling us David Beckham.

The tragedy of trying to do the same with cycling is that it misses the biggest selling point of all: The races themselves. It is the timelessness of Paris-Roubaix, the rich history of the Grand Tours, the legends of Lombardia that are the sport's greatest assets.

Cycling greatest selling point is the canvas upon which it takes place.
The players in the game come and go, but the backdrop and the recurring dramas remain the same.

The shorted-sightedness of the American media in all of this is astounding to me.

The same applies in the UK as well. Especially with the mainstream media - a brief line or two about the winner and then a long discussion about how the Brits did. ie http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/13030175.stm

If there isn't an anglophone angle to the story (or a doping angle) then they aren't interested.

I agree entirely with your point. We used to have these arguments with the BBC on 606 with them, people have tried to put forward the argument for more intelligent cycling coverage at ES too, but sadly, the likes of Harmon are too arrogant to accept any criticism.

 

[Granville57]

We used to have these arguments with the BBC...

Paris-Roubaix in particular always frustrates me because it contains so many elements of what the American media usually relies upon to hype an event: a long, storied history; epic battles of man vs man/nature/himself; hundreds of iconic images; the list just goes on and on.

One of the most legendary NFL championship games of all time is the infamous "Ice Bowl" of 1967.

The game-time temperature was about −15°F / −25°C, with a wind chill around −48°F / −44°C. Lambeau Field's turf-heating system malfunctioned, which left the playing surface as smooth as ice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NFL_Championship_Game

Another "sport" that receives a ridiculous amount of press based on its past is the Kentucky Derby. A horse race that dates back to 1875 that relies heavily on it's long history to promote itself.

Every year, parties are thrown in honor of the event. People have wine & cheese gatherings, cookouts, house parties, etc. All this for an actual race that only lasts for two minutes! BUT, people will dedicate an entire afternoon to the "event."

Most of these gatherings consist of people who never, ever follow anything to do with horse racing, have never ridden a horse, and sometimes, have hardly ever even seen a horse in person. But the promotion and marketing is genius. Again, it's the history, the legends, and the way the event captures people's imagination that sells.

Of course having the race on home soil is a serious advantage. The time change alone makes large gatherings to watch the Spring Classics a bit of an obstacle, but only the more recent arrival of the internet has meant spoiling the outcome ahead of time for viewers. That wouldn't have been much of an issue for most of the past 100 years or so.

My point to all this is that there is so much about cycling that plays right into what Americans love to see. It is a sad testament that those charged with promoting the sport have had such and incredibly narrow and limited perspective for so long.

What Verus/Universal is doing, is "keeping it small" regardless of whatever line of bs they might try to pitch in regards to their efforts to expand the sport. That goes for the UCI too. More races aren't necessarily the answer. The greatest events that the sport ever has, or ever will, produce have gone unnoticed by millions of people. More are not needed. Competent promotion of what cycling already has to offer is what is lacking.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Paris-Roubaix in particular always frustrates me because it contains so many elements of what the American media usually relies upon to hype an event: a long, storied history; epic battles of man vs man/nature/himself; hundreds of iconic images; the list just goes on and on.

One of the most legendary NFL championship games of all time is the infamous "Ice Bowl" of 1967.


Another "sport" that receives a ridiculous amount of press based on its past is the Kentucky Derby. A horse race that dates back to 1875 that relies heavily on it's long history to promote itself.....

You'll note that both events aren't long compared to Paris Roubaix. Americans like the action compacted down with stops-and-starts.

 

[nowhereman]

Exactly.

Many, many sports continue to center their popularity around the individual, and then scramble desperately to anoint the next LA, MJ or whoever. In the U.S they tried to sell "soccer" by selling us David Beckham.

The tragedy of trying to do the same with cycling is that it misses the biggest selling point of all: The races themselves. It is the timelessness of Paris-Roubaix, the rich history of the Grand Tours, the legends of Lombardia that are the sport's greatest assets.

Cycling greatest selling point is the canvas upon which it takes place.
The players in the game come and go, but the backdrop and the recurring dramas remain the same.

The shorted-sightedness of the American media in all of this is astounding to me.

A+ Very Well said!!

 

[Granville57]

You'll note that both events aren't long compared to Paris Roubaix. Americans like the action compacted down with stops-and-starts.

No doubt that the attention span can be short, which is why almost anyone can watch horses run around a track for two minutes.

But at the same time, that doesn't prevent millions of people from dedicating an entire day to the Super Bowl--pre pre-game, pre-game, game, half-time, game, post-game, post post-game.

I think what I'm wistfully imaging is that Americans could've been conditioned to great European cycling if only the setting had been conveyed to them decades ago. Tradition obviously requires...a tradition.

The least the media could do at this point would be to try to establish some sort of traditional sense of the sport and move away from flavor-of-the-moment personalities.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

You can generalize all you want about Americans not catching on etc. to a Euro sport. Maybe we are not exposed to the world enough? Funny.

The commercial is awesome because it is making people cry a river.

 

[patricknd]

The commercial is hilarious. It's like watching Houston wrestling when I was a kid. you gotta have a bad guy, and who better than the meskin sumbich

 

[scribe]

Alberto Contador.
Is he a champion or a fraud?
Honorable or a cheat?
All eyes are on him. You decide.
The 2011 Giro d'Italia.

I think I'll pass altogether on the 'eyes on' part.