Comments on: Red Pull

Red Pull

litleozy — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:02:33 -0800

Should posts linking to ads say so upfront?

I really liked the video in this post and there's no mystery meat: it says mountain biking, you get mountain biking. Still, I felt a bit tricked when I realised that this was for Red Bull Rampage. "Ack my eyes!" I thought, "I have given precious eyeball time to this marketing ploy! Somewhere a marketing exec is laughing, laughing!" Not to say that it's a bad post, but maybe posts which are ads, even indirect ads, should say so from the start? I've got nothing against Red Bull promoting its brand with extreme sports (well maybe a little) and there's enough content here beyond anything Red Bull related, but I'd like to know before clicking about that commercial context. Please please please: no Bill Hicks

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:09:47 -0800

The post is titled "Red Bull 2012".

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:10:20 -0800

LOL.

By: litleozy

litleozy — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:13:09 -0800

EmpressCallipygos: Aye, but if you just click the link and don't see the post title? What then?? (seriously though, seems easy to miss for me, especially from the front page)

By: empath

empath — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:13:46 -0800

Half the links on metafilter are selling something. This ship sailed a long time ago.

Red bull doesn't magically make money from you if you look at an ad. Really, if you enjoyed the video and don't buy it, you're basically taking money out of their pockets.

By: Roger Dodger

Roger Dodger — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:16:03 -0800

Plus, Red Bull is delicious. You should buy one.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:17:27 -0800

Should posts linking to ads say so upfront?

Not according to any moderation policy, no. Our concern is more with sketchy ads-for-ads'-sake stuff or people with a vested interest doing promotional or street team shit, and that we'll crack down on that hard when we see it, but something where it's content someone thinks is neat that happens to bear some sort of corporate sponsorship wrapping is more a judgement call for the poster to make than any bright line issue.

To an extent, the lack of the "Red Bull" brand appearing in print on the front page is sticking it, in whatever vague sense, to that marketing angle.

By: litleozy

litleozy — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:20:22 -0800

Empath: Ah, but if I enjoyed the video then I will associate red bull with good things and become a traitor to the revolution, even if I never buy red bull ever. It's all about the supermarket own brands

And totally agreed that everybody is trying to sell you something, but when you're dealing with events, videos and articles which are directly affiliated with a company, I personally wouldn't mind a disclaimer.

On preview: okay, thanks cortex for clearing that up. And I hadn't thought about the lack of branding being a plus, good point

By: Rumple

Rumple — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:39:02 -0800

Pepsi Bull!

By: mintcake!

mintcake! — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:42:04 -0800

It would actually be pretty genius to rebrand Mountain Dew Code Red as Pepsi Red. Pepsico, get at me - Negativland and I have all kinds of amazing advice for you guys.

By: Egg Shen

Egg Shen — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:46:49 -0800

Is today Warn People About Stuff Upfront Day?

By: andoatnp

andoatnp — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:50:52 -0800

Are people going to freak the fuck out if I post this: "Unlock the 007 in you. You have 70 seconds!"?

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:51:59 -0800

Well, so much for my "Look, it's the Iron Man 3 trailer!" post.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:54:30 -0800

Plus, Red Bull is delicious. You should buy one.

Red Bull is people!

needs to be shouted in a Charlton Heston sort of voice

By: wildcrdj

wildcrdj — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:05:28 -0800

Even when the poster doesn't mention it, I guarantee you someone will bring it up in the comments. Actually, pre-emptively mentioning it probably mostly pays off by making it less likely to turn into an "omg its an ad" derail. (For example, in that post you get people mentioning/riffing on the Red Bull angle, but surprisingly little advertising GRAR)

Red bull doesn't magically make money from you if you look at an ad.

Exactly. YouTube magically makes money when you look at the ad :)

By: arcticseal

arcticseal — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:07:15 -0800

This post gave me wings. AskMe to follow.

By: comealongpole

comealongpole — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:12:09 -0800

I was thrown by the Atari 2600 Pac-Man thread. I suppose marking it as effectively an ad would have saved me 30 seconds checking back over the links for the rom I was half-sure I'd missed. Don't really think there's much that can or should be done about that sort of thing though. Maybe a "FOR SALE" tag or something might have saved me the effort (although I only tend to look at tags after a thread's whetted my appetite for more of same).

By: carsonb

carsonb — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:17:03 -0800

For all the cool shit Red Bull sponsors, I'm surprised they don't get more eyeball action around here. I fucking loathe the drink itself, but I respect the company for putting the dollars they make selling sleazejuice to good use.

"Ack my eyes!" I thought, "I have given precious eyeball time to this marketing ploy! Somewhere a marketing exec is laughing, laughing!"

Anyway this reaction is much likelier to give an ad exec a boner than simply watching the video without a second thought. The goal is to affect you. If you're eyes are burning, you're affected.

By: DU

DU — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:25:22 -0800

Posts that are ads should be banned, period.

Even if "some ads have some neat content", it has been said many times that MeFi is not for everything. Marketing departments have no difficulty "getting the message out" and there's no reason they need assistance from humans.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:34:31 -0800

Posts that are ads should be banned, period.

As we've said, they won't be. Do what you want to with that information.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:37:06 -0800

I think if people want to avoid looking at advertising so badly, they should probably turn off the internet and read a book.

They may want to quickly turn past the 'other books by this author' page, though.

Just in case.

By: nadawi

nadawi — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:44:53 -0800

also, some authors are paid to advertise in their books. better hope no one needs a coke or a honey bun or to climb into their kia.

By: yellowbinder

yellowbinder — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:10:30 -0800

This post is the perfect place to announce that Jeff Goldblum is doing Paypal ads now, which means that Drunk Jeff Goldblum is back!

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:21:51 -0800

litleozy: "Should posts linking to ads say so upfront?"

Yes, please.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:24:53 -0800

As we've said, they won't be. Do what you want to with that information.

*vacuums living room*

By: Wordshore

Wordshore — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:31:57 -0800

Stopping links to ads would result in MetaFilter users not being alerted to videos such as this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this or this. To quote but a few of hundreds, thousands of examples.

And if we can't see things like this then, well, what is the point of MetaFilter? Or the Internet? Or life, or even existence itself?

Note: Everyone needs a cat video. Perhaps except dunkadunc.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:34:02 -0800

Both the world and Metafilter would be much better places if we could collectively move on from cat videos and funny advertisements and talk about something real for a change.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:47:31 -0800

There's a whole lot of posts on Metafilter every day and the overwhelming majority of them are of neither cat videos nor funny ads. If you are having trouble locating non-cat, non-funny-ad content you have probably got a pretty weirdly niche Greasemonkey script installed.

By: box

box — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:52:33 -0800

Is it real, son? Is it really real, son?

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:54:31 -0800

You come in here drinking your Red Bullshit, you stink like booze, you're out all night partying...

By: ThatCanadianGirl

ThatCanadianGirl — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:00:41 -0800

I watched that clip with my son. We enjoyed it and have no plans to buy Red Bull. Any sporting event has advertising either surrounding the play, or on the clothing, or the equipment. Metafilter likes sports clips, and so I. I just ignore the ads.

By: Kid Charlemagne

Kid Charlemagne — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:05:44 -0800

So much Grarr! and not one mention of Felix Baumgartner?

By: ThatCanadianGirl

ThatCanadianGirl — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:17:34 -0800

Yeah, Felix Baumgartner! Now that was an expensive commercial.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:28:24 -0800

Yeah, Felix Baumgartner! Now that was an expensive commercial.

Not to mention Red Bull Formula 1.

The Austrian energy-drinks company Red Bull has spent a total of £422.4m on Formula One (F1) since buying its team from Ford at the end of 2004, according to new research.

And that's not counting the past year and a half.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:37:51 -0800

Red Bull causes intra-abdominal fat.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:46:42 -0800

cortex: "There's a whole lot of posts on Metafilter every day and the overwhelming majority of them are of neither cat videos nor funny ads. If you are having trouble locating non-cat, non-funny-ad content you have probably got a pretty weirdly niche Greasemonkey script installed."

Ironically, when I clicked that to add it as a favorite it told me I needed to have Javascript enabled.

Re: ads: I appreciate being able to click a link knowing in advance that it isn't an ad for something, just like I appreciate being able to open a book or listen to a song knowing that it isn't going to be a stealth Christian tract.

By: mintcake!

mintcake! — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:23:52 -0800

Fun fact - every song on Pinkerton was commissioned by Monsanto.

By: Potomac Avenue

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:54:01 -0800

Plus, Red Bull is delicious. You should buy one.

By: michaelh

michaelh — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:21:02 -0800

You are an ad.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:23:17 -0800

I enjoy the occasional Red Bull but too much will make your intestines go into overdrive. I want some pep, not prepare for a colonoscopy.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:38:14 -0800

What I'm saying is that it makes you shit like a duck.

By: misha

misha — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:54:37 -0800

I don't drink Red Bull, though every teen I know does, and that explains a lot. I'm just not in their demographic. I don't feel threatened or pressured by their ads or anything; I feel like I'm perfectly capable of ignoring a sales pitch for something I don't even like, and if I do like it I don't care because they are already getting my money. In fact, I appreciate it when these ad campaigns get creative, because when a circumstance comes up that I do have to sit through a commercial, I might as well enjoy it.

So I guess I don't really get this attitude:

DU: "Marketing departments have no difficulty "getting the message out" and there's no reason they need assistance from humans."

Marketing people have mortgages to pay and families to feed too, you know.

By: roofus

roofus — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:36:17 -0800

I wait 8 years for my first meta-call out, and now it's all played out while I was asleep.

By: Dysk

Dysk — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 03:56:52 -0800

Posts that are ads should be banned, period.

I dunno. I also dunno that this really was an ad, either - is the NASCAR Corona Series an ad? Is the Heineken Cup an ad? Is showing highlights from them, or any other sponsor-named sport or competition an advert? The BBC thinks not, for example, even paying for the privilege of showing the 2012 Formula 1 Santander Grand Prix! So why is it any different if it's Red Bull sponsoring?

By: Dysk

Dysk — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 03:58:19 -0800

(For the record: Red Bull is disgusting, I find their 'brand' distasteful, and I don't like the increase in commercial interests in sport, but I just really don't think it's meaningful to call that video an ad.)

By: Namlit

Namlit — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 05:11:59 -0800

...but it gives you wings...
they say

By: Room 641-A

Room 641-A — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:06:29 -0800

Thank you for mentioning Red Bull. Five (5) Bull Bucks have been added to your account.

By: SpiffyRob

SpiffyRob — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:31:36 -0800

If it gives you wings like a duck, and makes you shit like a duck...

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 07:24:45 -0800

I can't really hear the "gives you wings" thing without thinking of panty liners so I guess advertising works in mysterious ways.

By: Jahaza

Jahaza — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 07:30:30 -0800

It would actually be pretty genius to rebrand Mountain Dew Code Red as Pepsi Red.

Do they ever have that in restaurants?

Waiter: Did you order the Code Red?
Patron: You're goddamn right I did!

By: nathancaswell

nathancaswell — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:20:20 -0800

Posts that are ads should be banned, period.

Movie trailers are ads.

By: Wordshore

Wordshore — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:32:34 -0800

Posts that are ads should be banned, period.

Looking quickly around the MetaFilter of late, the most obvious FPP that is an ad is this one. Should this be banned and the OP have his account suspended/deleted?

And perhaps go the full persecution distance and cast him out asunder from the Garden of MetaFilter, to wander the barren lands of Reddit for all eternity?

By: Wordshore

Wordshore — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 08:39:07 -0800

Or MetaTalk post, not FPP. Whatever. Am going colour-blind. Drinking too much Red Bull, probably.

By: EndsOfInvention

EndsOfInvention — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 09:00:51 -0800

If it gives you wings like a duck, and makes you shit like a duck...

...it's a DNA-resequencing process that horrifically morphs you into a duck? Not sure where you're going with this.

By: Wordshore

Wordshore — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 09:09:12 -0800

I can't really hear the "gives you wings" thing without thinking of panty liners so I guess advertising works in mysterious ways. posted by jessamyn

Now this is a definite downside, a danger, of advertising. When, as a middle age man, you find yourself absent-mindedly, quietly but audibly singing the theme to an advert to yourself. In a bar. Full of slightly drunk, testosterone-pumped other men :-(

By: asterix

asterix — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:22:33 -0800

just like I appreciate being able to open a book or listen to a song knowing that it isn't going to be a stealth Christian tract.

Don't read the Chronicles of Narnia!

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:24:27 -0800

Wordshore, I would like to buy you a beer.

By: Wordshore

Wordshore — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:10:53 -0800

Discussion and links to more cat videos in this FPP and associated comments.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:45:04 -0800

It's all about the supermarket own brands

3-liter jug of "Crimson Bullock"

By: chavenet

chavenet — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:47:19 -0800

MetaFilter: it makes you shit like a duck.

[Warning: that may be construed as an advertising slogan for MetaFilter]

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:03:55 -0800

One more time people: MeFi is paid for with ads. You may not see them, but they exist. If you dislike ads, you're in the wrong place.

By: Obscure Reference

Obscure Reference — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 06:10:49 -0800

Posts that are ads should be banned, period.

I was feeling sympathetic to that point of view but then I realized if it were policy, I'd have missed seeing Leslie Gore's video.