Amusement Park Advertisements with Roller Coasters Not Actually in Advertised Park

I only got 36 bun seeds, when I clearly counted 37 (in a row!?) on the bun in the picture!!!

I see how it is. *smh*

Alls I know is, the brilliant marketing for McDonald's in this thread has made me hungry for the metaphorical idea of a burger.

I'm going to Burger King.

Carrie, we both know it's no use with this crowd. Once these guys latch onto something they never let up. They're like snapping turtles of mockery.

I've remained somewhat neutral so far, because I can kind of see both sides. On one hand, I don't think it matters much that generic images/footage are/is used for a specific product, and on the other hand I do think most advertising ideas are entirely stale. Successful marketing research or no, I still find most of it bland, overdone, and/or insulting.

Ensign Smith said:

Carrie, we both know it's no use with this crowd. Once these guys latch onto something they never let up. They're like snapping turtles of mockery.

Really?

There's discussion and tomfoolery going on here. If you let it get to you that much then you'll get no pity from me.

If you don't like people disagreeing with you, that's one thing, but this thread delved, not into mockery, but seriously, off topic sillyness.

I never understand the "We're unhappy but we're staying put" crowd.

Vater said:

I've remained somewhat neutral so far, because I can kind of see both sides. On one hand, I don't think it matters much that generic images/footage are/is used for a specific product,

I agree 100%

and on the other hand I do think most advertising ideas are entirely stale. Successful marketing research or no, I still find most of it bland, overdone, and/or insulting.

I agree 100%

I get that some people think it's lazy marketing. I agree with that. But it's effective marketing or companies wouldn't keep doing it.

Carowinds stepped 'outside' the box last year with their Scarowinds marketing. They started advertising for 'Fury', and many in the Charlotte area thought it was a new energy drink. They really hyped it up good. It was good marketing. Sadly, they spent enough on the marketing budget, but not on the Maze's budget because it was boring. But it always had a line.

But I don't get the 'false advertisement' or even 'ad integrity' comments here. The parks are advertising that they have fun roller coasters to the general public. When they're advertising for a specific ride, they go a little further with imagry. But according to the newest reports, CF isn't suffering from people getting mad becase the corckscrew coaster at their park isn't blue, but purple.

I would've thought the term "snapping turtles of mockery" would be enough to indicate that I was being humorous. ;)

Oh give me a break, Clint. First...no one is letting anything get to them. Second... the comment had nothing to do with disliking disagreement. Third...the jokes are a theme that go beyond off topic silliness...in fact, I don't know what you were reading, but they were very much on topic.

As soon as three or more people from the same group form the same opinion, the discussion turns into let's create a "meme" that makes fun of the opposing argument. I've been watching it time and time again.

And what's really interesting is that the jokes are rarely funny at all.

So if your goal is to get everyone who is unhappy to leave, then it might just end up getting kind of lonely around here....or at least boring with the same folks laughing at all of their own same old jokes.

I don't have a goal. I don't really care either way. Its one thing for me to misuderstand Smith's comment. But you're kind of furthering the point I made regardless.

You've seemed and even stated to me in the past that at times you've been unhappy here, and recently that seems to have intensified slightly. I don't post on Buzz nearly as much because I get tired of all of the whining, so I do take my own advice to an extent. You don't find the memes funny, whatever. Obviously some people do.

What started with a silly argument about 'false' advertising (an arguement as old as CoasterBuzz itself) that has been had time and time again got a few people riled up.

And the tone of your posts, especially the last one, seem to indicate at least a slight annoyance on your part.

I'll reiterate: If you want to discuss, argue, post, okay. But for the people that seem to get annoyed more often than not, don't post. Or don't post as often. More of my posts lately have been in Day at the Park or Trip Report threads simply because I tire of the complaining.

But the memes are funny.

Yes, my last post was a reflection of my annoyance with your post. That is correct. But I'm not clear where your observation of my unhappiness having intensified "lately" comes from. I've had a very busy summer and only jumped back into a thread the past couple of days. I took the minority opinion, though, and even challenged a few of the approaches taken in the argument, so maybe that's where you got the idea. I don't know.

I have been unhappy in the past. I took a long break. Here I am. I've been reading here and there along the way and there are some things going on around here that bother me. Does that mean I need to take a longer leave? Or does it mean that I jump in and try to make a change? Jeff often asks the complainers what they are doing to change the culture that they don't agree with.

Many of the memes cross a line in my book. There a few posters that take many an opportunity to create a joke at the expense of an unpopular view or poster. That is not ok in my book. And it will never be funny in my book either.

I think it's cool to have fun and make jokes. When the jokes take on a theme of making fun of an "unpopular" poster or nonmajority opinion, then I think it flirts with bullying. I get that I can either say something about it or leave. I figured I would say something. Obviously, YMMV.

the delicious looking Big Mac in the ads looks nothing like the slop-in-a-box

Food Stylists rock.

http://www.culinaryschools.com/being-a-food-stylist

Carrie J. said:

As soon as three or more people from the same group form the same opinion, the discussion turns into let's create a "meme" that makes fun of the opposing argument.

I have to agree that this has become a bit of a trend, and I'm not sure that I'm fond of it. It happens in any community, sure, but at some point, when it dominates a certain percentage of content, new people scratch their head and think it's stupid. We've been straddling that line for awhile.

Because if you could build a hotel mid-Timbers, it would have already been built or Maverick YOLO. Sucks, and what not.

I'm guilty of it, yes, but I would like to think that if I made some stupid comment and it turned into a recurring joke at my expense, I would take pride in it. That said, I have a thicker skin than most, so while I wouldn't mind, others might.

Thankfully, some of the memes aren't really at the expense of others. Long live YOLO...or Maverick.

Carrie J. said:

When the jokes take on a theme of making fun of an "unpopular" poster or nonmajority opinion, then I think it flirts with bullying.

In this case though, I really think you hold the majority opinion. (at least in terms of the room)

Just wanted to point that out.

Jeff said:

I have to agree that this has become a bit of a trend, and I'm not sure that I'm fond of it.



I think the addition of the "Vote Up" button has encouraged people to become more glib and sarcastic in general.

---

What I have been trying to do is rack my brain coming up with similar, comparable examples.

It has to be something that's a detail of the larger product being sold and it has to merely be representative of that detail, not a literal depiction of said detail.

I think the fast food burger claim might fit that. Imagine one of the commercials where everyone is smiling and having fun and they get fast food and it ends with the main character lifting the pretty burger and smiling.

The overall sell is the emotion. The mood. The vibe. The idea that the product equates with good times. Not "look at this burger, come get one just like it" in any sense.

The burger itself is not what's being sold...at least not directly.

Then I thought again of Travis' arcade scenario a few pages back and there are ads kind of like that - Chuck E Cheese's

If I make the mistake of going to my local Chuck E Cheese's it's not going to look exactly like that or likely have exactly all the same games I see in the commercial. But that's not the point. The point is that it's fun at Chuck E Cheese's. Come have fun, we have games and kids go apescat here. Wheeee!

No one is going to go there and be jacked that they don't have the same game seen being played by some of the kids. No one. The game isn't being sold to the viewer.

I keep wanting to come back to car and beer commercials.

In the beer sense maybe it'd be like that shot of the cold beer being poured with the big, foamy head isn't actually the beer being sold. And hell, it's probably not. It's just not as easy to tell that it's not the same. And it's still about the vibe. Yum! Cold and refreshing! Doesn't a beer sound good right now? How about our beer?

I hate to play the enthusiast card, but in some cases it may just be that we're too close to the subject matter and see it in a way that the average viewer might not. I think that happens to people who closely follow anything (I'm sure we've all seen it in various communities we follow based on different interests we have) - it almost becomes ironic in that their opinions become the ones least representative of the ganeral vibe towards something. (and that's an entirely different rant)

Still trying to persuade others 5 pages later...I gotta be me. :)

Sirloindude said: I'm guilty of it, yes, but I would like to think that if I made some stupid comment and it turned into a recurring joke at my expense, I would take pride in it.

Agreed. So long as you are in agreement that the comment that you made that is being joked about was indeed stupid. I don't think that is always the case in these situations.

Gonch said: In this case though, I really think you hold the majority opinion. (at least in terms of the room)

Just wanted to point that out.

You mean about advertising? I didn't see it that way actually. My opinion was not about false advertising which is what seemed to be what was continually addressed. In fairness, though, I didn't know this topic had been talked about since the beginning of CoasterBuzz. I think some of those previous discussions had a residual effect in this discussion and I was missing that aspect of things. I don't know how I missed that kind of history, but I guess I wasn't paying attention.

It's interesting, though, because it kind of demonstrates how a new person to the site sees things.

Gonch said: I think the addition of the "Vote Up" button has encouraged people to become more glib and sarcastic in general.

Agreed.

Gonch said: Still trying to persuade others 5 pages later...I gotta be me. :)

I can see your point. Really. I just don't understand why you would choose to use comparable pictures for a print ad when the real ones exist. That's my whole point.

(Ok, that and that trying to suggest that riding a coaster at Cedar Point or Kings Island or anywhere else for that matter might actually break down cultural barriers is quite lame. It's what I think... no matter the coaster, no matter the park. ;-) )



Carrie J. said:
Agreed. So long as you are in agreement that the comment that you made that is being joked about was indeed stupid. I don't think that is always the case in these situations.

I didn't find the MidTimbers jokes that funny myself, and TimberRider or whatever his name is, has basically spent his entire time complaining about a park. Okay. If someone found them funny, fine. But lets think about the memes that are person specific around here:

Pancakes (nobody talks about pancakes anymore)
M:TR (R.I.P)
Captian Obvious (Good Riddance)
Or Maverick/Fahrenheit/Etc. (Not directed at a person)
If X would need Y, then bla bla bla (This was directed at a arguement that made no sense outside of the mind of one person. Yeah, it's directed at billb, but he brought that upon himself)
MidTimbers (Again, dude brought that upon himself)

And that's without getting into stuff like BWFSFA (Who gator has brought up recently) among other things.

I remember when I joined Coasterbuzz, and I've heard this said by many others, it was the same then. That's how the community has always kind of been. I miss the CPG. Inside jokes abound around here, and it's been an arguement for a long time. Moosh always said that if you don't get the joke, just ask. If the joke is on you, you should wear it as a badge of honor.

You mean about advertising? I didn't see it that way actually. My opinion was not about false advertising which is what seemed to be what was continually addressed.

You weren't the one calling it false advertising, others were. I don't think anyone disagrees with your arguement that it's probably lazy. I get that you and Gonch are saying two things:

Gonch: Parks are advertising an experience, not a specific experience
Carrie: Marketing Departments shouldn't be lazy

In fairness, though, I didn't know this topic had been talked about since the beginning of CoasterBuzz. I think some of those previous discussions had a residual effect in this discussion and I was missing that aspect of things. I don't know how I missed that kind of history, but I guess I wasn't paying attention.

It's one of those topics that rares up ever so often. You probably only really pay attention to Coasterbuzz as far as this hobby goes. On the larger sites, it doesn't come up but maybe every couple years. Go to a park specific site and it seems to pop up every time a new ad comes out.

Gonch said: I think the addition of the "Vote Up" button has encouraged people to become more glib and sarcastic in general.

Carrie said: Agreed.

+1

I can see your point. Really. I just don't understand why you would choose to use comparable pictures for a print ad when the real ones exist. That's my whole point.

Because people are lazy and the marketing probably still works. I don't think anyone is disputing any of that.

And having said all of that, I don't think it's nearly as 'bad' around here as it used to be. When you had the CPG and the Minivan of Justice constantly going at it with everyone else. It was funny, and noobs had to earn their spot. Anymore, and I'm not directing it at this thread, I get tired of all of the whining, and even that's died down as of late. To me, it just seems like another ebb and flow at Coasterbuzz.

Tekwardo said:

Gonch: Parks are advertising an experience, not a specific experience
Carrie: Marketing Departments shouldn't be lazy

This is the case on most of the threads that go round and round. Two different, but related, arguments.

I get tired of all of the whining, and even that's died down as of late

The offseason is coming, and the whining will return.

As for the "truth in advertising" discussion, I think next year's marketing campaign will be the determining factor. What I am referring to is all of the new rides that have been announced over the last couple of weeks. Think of parks spending millions of dollars on new exciting ride experiences, like Gatekeeper and Gold Striker, then running ads with generic rides and parks. That would be beyond lazy. They had better then fire their marketing firm and hire Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Price instead.

Is anything accomplished by these generic ads anyways, if they're not marketing anything new? What, people in Ohio hadn't realized there were amusement parks in the state prior to seeing these generic ads? Now you run an ad featuring a POV on Gatekeeper and you will generate interest, and hopefully increase attendance. I guess I just don't think think these generic ads are worth the production costs, but that's just my opinion.