Mr. Six is history

Change his name to Mr. 86.

I always thought Mr. Six was pretty cool. Yeah, the song was annoying, but the whole thing was supposed to be goofy, or at least that's the impression I got. We'll see how important he was to the company sooner or later, I suppose.

1) I am not a fan of Six Flags by any stretch of the imagination

2) When watching TV, I usually hit mute during the commericals.

Those things being said...

Every time that a Six Flags commercial was on with Mr.Six, I would un-mute the TV and watch it... kind of like a caged parakete fascinated by a shinney object.

Dude, they can't do that!
ok ok, they did.
But thats what everone knows Six Flags by now.
Ask almost any person of the GP the first thing that reminds them of Six Flags, they will say The Old Dancing guy. So far I'm not liking this new Snyder dude.

For crap's sake, does Snyder ever shut up about "establishing partnerships"? I was thinking positively about the man's goal for the company until I've realized that his plans for appealing to families consisted of branding the chain with fast food and cartoons. We've long established that Six Flags was in trouble partly because they gave away the gate to people (i.e. teenage season pass holders) who don't spend any money, so obviously he has identified that deficiency. However, his method for achieving this goal is anything but sensible. If he successfully conveys that Six Flags is under new management, then sure, I'd imagine that more people would be encouraged to visit a Six Flags park. However, once they step inside, the new audience will realize that the parks are just the same, except now the rides are named after Fillet o' Fish and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Unless Snyder fixes the brand's image and the issues occurring inside the gates, then Lord Gonchar may be right, as the initial boost in profit sure isn't going to last, 'cos people aren't going to make a return visit unless the parks truly have changed.

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that for years now

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They make it sound like it's been a decade. Too funny.

Honestly I think this is only the first in a long line of bad decisions that is going to be made. For the first time in years, SF had a single ad that WORKED! People knew who the commercial was for soon as they saw him.

Ohh well, not alot you can do.

I would argue that you could keep Mr. Six and change the commercials to appeal to parents and kids. As for partnerships, lots of companies have them SF wouldn't be the first. I also agree with the comment about making changes inside the gates and not necessarily during the season. Those changes need to begin in the off season as well. Example, ride maintenance needs to be completed on time and all rides should be operational on opening day, not two weeks or a month later.

Sounds like Snyder needs to see his ideas completely fail first instead of realizing they are bad in the first place.

I mean, how unfamiliar is he with Six Flags anyway? Almost all of the parks have an existing relationship with a "cartoon studio" called Warner Brothers! I guess he's never seen a Bugs Bunny World or Looney Tunes National Forest.

Handing over all concession operations is a bad idea, and some of the parks do have fast food companies in their parks currently. Panda Express is at SFMM for example. Sometimes fast food companies fail at parks because people can see the price gouging (McDonald's for example being twice as much) and skip right past them.

Going after the family audience is a lofty goal, but the money to create a triple A family attraction is quite a bit more than a coaster installation. Would SF really drop the kind of money it takes to create Pirates of The Carribean or Buzz Lightyear? Or spend 100 million to create a family coaster like Everest? The alternative to not going after thrill seekers is to shop for the milder range carnival rides, and nothing would be less exciting than seeing years of little rides that you can find at a state fair.

I realize the company was having trouble but it seems a really bad idea to completely eliminate a marketing tool that they have spent millions on already and was, in fact, easliy identified with what it was selling. My last trip to SFGAM I was asked to pick up some Mr. Six merhcandise for friends that I had bought on my previous trip and the stores were completely sold out. It might not have appealed to families but it was appealing to someone. I don't like the idea of the parks shying away from "teen oriented" big thrills because the fact is, it's not just teens going to the parks for the big rides. SFGAM hasn't had a good new coaster in a very long time and with Snyder at the helm it looks like it will be even longer. With the midwestern parks packed to their borders I don't see how they can even make the parks more family friendly unless they're going to dump a bunch of money on refurbishing shows and childrens areas. And even a large family is not likely to be thrilled spending as much as they are expected for parking, over- priced, low-quality food, locker rentals for all their gear that are sometimes more expensive than the parking. And now with a lot of the SF parks moving parking facilities to off-site areas with tram access, leaving to get an affordable meal is impossible. The company would be smart to add an additional marketing campaign to keep the visitors they have and reach the desired market. For a guy who hates the way things are going so much, he sure seems determined to run the place even further into the ground.

Im looking forward to their new marketing campaign.

But we'll just have to wait and see what it's gonna be!

Desperado Officianado:

SFGAm got a new coaster in 2003 and in 2004. They got a whole waterpark in 2005. Like it or not, we are due for a break.

The newspaper article was quite biased, in my opinion. It was apparent that the author did not enjoy Mr. Six very much, seeing as he basically described him as a creepy child molester.

Personally, I dont see the eradication of Mr. Six as a good idea. There was definitely a way to make Mr. Six family oriented. In fact, I thought he already was. And it was the first ad campaign that has really worked for Six Flags. Everyone knows the ad, and alot of people like it.

As for branding everything in the parks, I dont think that will work out so well either. Time Warner attempted this with DC comic, and have people really bought into it? In my experience, it doesnt matter what you name a roller coaster. People will choose what they want to ride based on how "good" the ride is. For example, just as many people will say "I want to ride 'The Batman'" as "I want to ride 'The Serial Thriller.'"* In the end, branding will probably do nothing more than establish zones of the park, at least when it comes to rides.

*On a side note, I hate people who say 'the' in front of ride names at parks. It really irks me.
*** This post was edited by coasterguy1 12/5/2005 7:41:11 PM ***

Bad move Snyder.

I love The Batman The Ride, The Raging Bull, The Shockwave, and The Iron Wolf at SFGAm, The Demon was okay, but I didn't get to ride The Whizzer...

::rollsyeyes::

As for everything else, I agree that I think Mr. Six going is a bad Idea, but he does see the need to cater to families and kids. At least he has something right. That one article makes generalizations based on things said but not explained yet. Let us not condemn Snyder until he has had control for a year or so.

Because, you know, CP did such a good job re-branding Geauga Lake immediately after purchase...*** This post was edited by TeknoScorpion 12/5/2005 9:55:20 PM ***

that article does not mean anything. All it means is that Snyder was thinking of getting rid of Mr. Six. It does not mean that he will. It might happen and it might not happen.

Tek-

There you go talking like you know what you're talking about when you're just talking for the sake of talking. CP did not re-brand GL. Cedar Fair did. CP != CF Corporate. ;)

You know, there's something cold and calculated about Snyder's whole "kids and families" bit. It doesn't sound like he gives two shakes about families, but knows that's where his profit lies. I don't blame him for that, but it still sounds like phony baloney. I go back and forth in my support of Red Zone, I only hope when it comes to the people they choose to lord over these parks, they choose people who are more passionate about actually providing a good experience for these "families". I can't stand greedy people who hold up babies in order to look like they care.

As for Mr. Six, I thought it was a brilliant ad and the knee-jerk decision to scrape it is stupid. If anything I'd keep it and run a companion ad focusing on family enjoyment. Snyder may want to focus on families, but I don't think he's ready to dismantle the many "thrillrides" that are already staples in many of the parks. With 17 coasters, I don't care how many "family" attractions you build at SFMM, it will still attract mostly thrill seekers.

Mr. Six has only been part of Six Flags marketing for 2 seasons, and Looney Tunes has been part of Six Flags marketing for as long as I can remember.

I am in total agreement with Phantom Tails on this one!

Fast Food restaurants are a huge turnoff for me, and I don't see alot of difference between the swill at fast food places and some of the park food offerings at many parks.

When SFOhio/WoA was operating, there was some awesome in-park food offerings (I miss that grilled chicken fajita salad w/guacamole!), plus the added benefit of 2 of the few 'fast food' eateries that I enjoy...Subway and Arthur Treachers.

*** This post was edited by midwave 12/6/2005 1:44:25 AM ***

i think the mr. six campaign was great. i have 11 nieces and nephews who range in age from 10-25 and they all love him. my sister is a teacher and says the kids in her 6th and 7th grade classes all stand up during breaks and do the dance.

has anyone considered e-mailing the new regime and complaining?