Six Flags claims to be "Coaster Capital of the World"

Last night while watching ESPN2, a new commercial I haven't yet seen for Six Flags came on. It started by showing clips of X and Riddler and said someting along the lines of...

"Come visit the new Six Flags... and ride the biggest coasters. Ride Kingda Ka in New Jersey, Tatsu in California, Goliath in Georgia, Titan in Texas, and Raging Bull in Illinois. With so many coasters across the country, Six Flags IS the Coaster Capital of the World!"

I laughed. I thought it was pretty funny that SF realizes their PARKS are that horrible that they need to advertize individual coasters and their coasters as a whole... Even though they aren't that great either. Nitro and S:ROR SFNE are my only SF coasters in my top 20.

Has anyone else seen this commerical? Do you think SF is worthy of calling themselves the "Coaster Capital of the World"?

-TWISTer

It's either that or "Six Flags - debt capital of the amusement park industry!"

Am I the only one on CoasterBuzz that like Six Flags and wants them to suceed.

I think Six Flags is a good chain for pushing the limit on coasters like X, Tatsu, and Kingda Ka.

Edit- Please do not kill me for saying that!;)

*** Edited 9/5/2006 4:49:07 AM UTC by Hamster Boy***

So are those five of the six "safe" Six Flags parks?

ha...i thought CP claimed to be coaster capital of the world after all they have 16 coasters soon to be 17

Cedar Point is America's (Rockin') Roller Coast.

As a chain, they do lead the industry in the amount of coasters.

However, claiming to be the coaster capital of the world, based on the many (and falling) parks spread across the country, is a bit absurd. A coaster capital of the world would be one location.

But if it works as an advertisment, more power to them. Interesting that they have taken this direction considering their ultimate goal previously was to move into family friendly entertainment.

Ok heres my thing with this. I havent seen the actual commercial, but from the sounds of it all they advertise in it are the coasters. If that is the case doesnt that go against everything that they have been trying to do from the beginning. If you are promoting yourself as the coaster capital of the world you are advertising to thrill seekers (mainly teens) which is what they have been trying to get away from. This seems like a total 180 from what they have been trying to promote SF as.

^Exactly Magxl200, thats the big story here. Who cares what they claim about the coasters, the parks allways inflate their coaster stats so they are the best.

I really hope that this is either an SFGAdv thing that has been going on the whole year because if this is a reversal then I have completly lost any faith in the Red Zone group.

I would like someone to try power riding Ka, Tatsu, Goliath and Raging Bull in the same day.

Actually, if they were all in the same park, three would open 2 hours after the gate if at all.

Keep in mind that this ad was seen on ESPN2, a network that Shapiro knows all too well and a target audience that would respond well to an extreme thrills message.

Whether or not one beleives that Six Flags is "the coaster capital" the point in marketing is to try to establish a message (or else they wouldn't be advertising it).

That said, Kingda Ka is the biggest coaster in the country. X pioneered the 4D experience. I don't see anything wrong in the medium or the message. Actually, the one cool thing about the message is that it is apparently naming names, to help set it apart from merely a regional park operator to attract folks to specific parks outside of their local area.

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Hamster Boy said:
Am I the only one on CoasterBuzz that like Six Flags and wants them to suceed.

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I don't think you are alone. I prefer Cedar Fair (Paramount too) to Six Flags, but that does not mean I want them to fail. It is in everyone's best interest for them to succeed. If Six Flags were to fail, aside from the independents (like HW, KW, etc), there would really only be Cedar Fair. Before you speak up, Busch counts sure, but their presence in minimal. Tampa and Williamsburg, plus a handful of sea creatures (no matter how well done) are different animals (pun intended).

If there is no competition, the world of amusement parks would be very different.

With all the layoffs at AOL recently, it would appear some of them were hired by the Six Flags advertising department. AOL claimed to be the best for years, and now they are giving there service away free to try and survive.

Yes, they can call themselves the coaster capital because they have the most coasters of any park operator.

End of story. If you don't like it, to bad.

I guess CP calling whatever they have "THE BEST ON THE PLANET" is perfectly o.k. ?

Get over it.

I'm one of the group who really wants SF to succeed, and hopes they can pull it off. That said, I was a bit surprised at the claim, since the first thing I thought of when I heard it was CP. It seems to be total for one park vs total for one chain of parks. Anyway, anything that can get SF out there is fine with me. Then just fix what drove people away in the first place. But, unfortunatelly, you need $ to do that...enter the vicious circle. Hope they can find the off-ramp.

*just discovered the wonders of SFA's MindEraser and Joker's Jinx. AWESOME!* My first steel coasters! Hey, is it so weird for a 40-something woman to just learn how much fun a theme park can really be?

As long as the government of Coasterland resides at Six Flags, I think they can call themselves the "Capital".

Is it the offseason already?

You do also realize that Six Flags is also the "Inversion Capital of the World".

Not that it'd attract any more people than coaster-capital of the world... but who in their right mind power-rides all of Six Flags coasters anyway to fall for that kind of marketing? 9/10ths of the markets don't even cater to that kind of advertising because they're either at a Six Flags park that has like 4 to 6 coasters or not even in a Six Flags region (ahem... the entire Ohio!)...

C'mon guys, it's all marketing. Marketing doesn't have to make sense ("coaster capital of the world" spread across a half-dozen parks), all it has to do is get the name out. And honestly, what are they going to say in their advertizements, other than positive talking points?

They're not going to say "Come to Six Flags, and pay $15 for parking! Don't forget to smile when we assault you with cameras as you enter the park! See SBNO rides! Wait in lines behind annoying, ungrateful teenagers, for our crappy SLC! Just try and count the number of coasters closed for the season! And don't forget to place an order Pappa John's overpriced pizza with our 16-year-old who will get your order wrong, and won't give you the correct change! Six Flags!"

And to be honest, I don't think I've ever heard of a nation-wide promotional campaign like the one outlined in the original post (except for Walt Disney World). So, I say, good for them. Get the word out, and try to use the big rides to bring people back. After all, if they really do start to close more parks, that's BAD for enthusiasts. *** Edited 9/5/2006 3:20:51 PM UTC by Arson***

Hey, Cedar Fair is guilty, as well. Does anyone remember my post about Hydra at Dorney? They billed it as something like--one of the world's tallest and fastest floorless coasters, when in reality, in comparison to the other floorless coasters, it's one of the world's shortest (height) and slowest floorless coasters.

Technically, SF as a whole IS the coaster capital of the world. When it comes to individual parks, this just goes back to the CP vs SFMM thread. Once next year hits, though, CP may yet again be the undisputed coaster capital, what with Maverick and the possiblity of Flashback coming down. *** Edited 9/5/2006 4:08:04 PM UTC by rablat5***