Advertising misrepresents bicycling

From the Birmingham News (AL), 08.13.08:

Positives of bicycling often not portrayed in ads
Most images of cycling presented in mass market ads follow one of two distinct approaches--one positive, albeit often nostalgic, the other unfortunately negative. This dichotomy neatly reflects the conflicted perception of the bicycle in our society.

On the positive side, images of riding through sunny wildflower-filled meadows or along quiet tree-lined streets are used to evoke warm feelings about simpler times, healthy living and good clean fun. This approach is used to sell everything from medicines and personal hygiene products to real estate developments and banking services, with the bicycle emblematic of life lived better.

On the dark side, negative ads typically depict riding a bike to actually go somewhere as a desperation move to be avoided. Some poor guy is shown ridiculously crouched on a child's bike or glumly struggling up a hill, his punishment for not buying the advertised product (usually car insurance, car parts, or even the car itself) which would have kept him among the happy motorized masses.

The potency of this biker-equals-loser image may help explain why, in a country with more than 100 million bikes, so few Americans ever use one to go to work or run an errand. (Read more.)

Excellent article from Alabama by Doug Daughhetee, who initiates a new cycling column in the Birmingham News with this provocative piece. How many of us bicycle commuters have not been offended by some ridiculous television commercial?

My personal least favorite commercial at present is a noxious ad from Autozone, which seems to plague every baseball game I watch. (Other than "South Park", my only consistent television habit is baseball.) The commercial shows some teenage boy (of course he's male) spending the hot summer fixing a broken down car at the side of the road, with a sign in the window declaring "If you can fix it, it's yours!" Making frequent trips on his bicycle to the local Autozone for helpful advice and parts, the kid gets the jalopy running: "At least the next time I come to Autozone, it won't be on my bike!" Yeah, right. In my ending of this silly commercial, the kid spends lots of time and money fixing the junker and just before he makes the final critical repair...the county tows it to the scrap yard. Am I cruel? Or realistic?

What's your least favorite broadcast or internet commercial these days?

Beyond television commercials--always heavy with automobile-related spots--television programming and films are bereft of positive images of bicyclists. As I wrote on this blog in 2006:

Generally, when bicyclists appear on celluloid, they are presented as marginal outcasts or eccentrics. In films such as The 40-Year-Old Virginor In & Out(1997, starring Kevin Kline), the films use bike commuting to accentuate the main character's idiosyncrasy. Or the so-bad-it's-hilarious 1986 Kevin Bacon vehicle, Quicksilver, which manages to insult both stockbrokers and bike messengers in one swoop. In The Wizard of Oz, what does the Wicked Witch ride when she's not on her broom? A bicycle (as her Kansas alter-ego). (Read more.)

The challenge for bike commuters isn't just about finding space on our streets. It's also about finding space in our culture. It's clear from all the recent news coverage of bicycling that we have an opportunity right now, thanks to rising gas prices. The recent growth of bicycling blogs, sites, publications, and advocacy groups is very encouraging. The moment is ripe, and we need to be present. On the streets, and in the culture.

Image: Web capture.
Visit: Ad Nauseam: State Farm on the Humiliation of Biking to Work, Streetsblog
Visit: More funny bike advertising, Bike Man Dan
Visit: Bicycling against car culture, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: San Francisco bike mural, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Why I Ride: Bicycling in New York, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Zen and the Art of Bike Commuting, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site

So, like, who's Jim Morrison?

Photographer Jym Dyer writes: "A sticker somebody made and put on the bike racks at Rainbow Grocery: 'Warning to Bicyclists: Getting Doored by a Car May Result in you Joining Jim Morrison. Check Windows and Car Mirror for Occupants as you Pass.' Scrawled in pen underneath, 'Yeah right! Better: Don't ride in the door zone!'"

Of course, many younger cyclists locking up will ask: Who's Jim Morrison? "Dunno, wasn't he that guy on 'Scrubs' or somethin'?" No, you're thinking of the dude who played with Dave Matthews Band. "Yeah, maybe."

C'mon baby light my fire, yeah!


Image: Jym Dyer. Of course, Rainbow Grocery pales in comparison to the Davis Food Co-op, in the cycling capital of North America, Davis, California.
Visit: It's not just a bike, it's a statement, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site

It's not just a bike, it's a statement

Bike stickers serve many purposes:
1) To make a statement, political or personal
2) To cover chips, dings, scratches
3) To prevent chips, dings, scratches
4) To discourage theft by making bike less salable
5) To personalize (make unique)

Bike stickers are available from many organizations. See the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, StickerGiant.com, or PeaceSupplies.org to start. If you do sticker your bike, my suggestion is to get the better quality vinyl ones. They weather better, and if you ever want to remove them, they peel easier. Otherwise, plan to spend ample time with Goo Gone (or another eco-friendly citrus cleaner.)

Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site

The unbearable dearth of cinematic cycling

Bicyclists are accustomed to being marginalized in the media. Especially the broadcast media, which almost never features bicycling in plots, settings, storylines, or characters. Television news enthusiastically covers every gas price hike or traffic situation affecting motorists, which is understandable considering that a huge percentage of TV advertising revenue comes from car makers, oil companies, tire manufacturers, vehicle insurers, and auto loan companies. Just count the commercials next time you watch.

The print media is only slightly better, for instance with recent articles in the San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, or the Sacramento Bee. But for the most part, unless bicyclists are killed on the road, impeding car traffic with Critical Mass, or winning the Tour de France, bicycling is largely invisible in the American media. (An interesting exception I've seen are commercials for suburban retirement communities featuring smiling, bike-riding senior couples--bicycling being emblamatic of happy active lifestyles.)

The situation may be even worse in cinema. Generally, when bicyclists appear on celluloid, they are presented as marginal outcasts or eccentrics. In films such as The 40-Year-Old Virginor In & Out(1997, starring Kevin Kline), the films use bike commuting to accentuate the main character's idiosyncrasy. Or the so-bad-it's-hilarious 1986 Kevin Bacon vehicle, Quicksilver, which manages to insult both stockbrokers and bike messengers in one swoop. In The Wizard of Oz, what does the Wicked Witch ride when she's not on her broom? A bicycle (as her Kansas alter-ego).

There have been a few outstanding bicycling films, to be sure. My favorites include the standout classic Academy Award-winning Breaking Away (1979, directed by Peter Yates and starring a young Dennis Quaid), the great bike racing film American Flyers (1985, directed by John Badham, starring a young Kevin Costner), and the outstanding French-Canadian film 2 Seconds (2000, directed by Manon Briand). These films feature bicycling as an important component of personal growth or recovery, and are obviously made by people with an authentic understanding and appreciation of bicycling.

I was pleasantly surprised by the 1985 film The Man with One Red Shoe, in which Tom Hanks plays a bike-commuting classical violinist and composer who, in one scene, heroically rescues Lori Singer using his bike and a two by four.

There are, of course, a healthy handful of foreign films (The Bicycle Thief, Beijing Bicycle), documentary films (We Are Traffic! & Return of the Scorcher, Still We Ride), and animated films (The Triplets of Belleville, Pee-wee's Big Adventure) that present bicycling in a sympathetic light.

There are many young filmmakers out there producing short films on bikes or bicycling. Many of these films are featured in festivals, such as the acclaimed Bicycle Film Festival. I'm generally disappointed that many of these films are overly romanticized portrayals of bike racers or bike messengers--understandably appealing, perhaps, to younger cineastes. These difficult bike professions are important, but they represent a tiny minority of all bicyclists. And YouTube has an abundance of bike shorts.

There are many other films that feature bicycling, to be sure. But for the most part bicycling is sadly absent from Hollywood production. Send me your favorite bike film suggestions.


Visit: Dude, Where's Your Car? How not having a car became Hollywood shorthand for loser, Slate.com
Visit: MASSBike Film List
Visit: My "Breaking Away" Tribute Page, Diablo Scott's Bike Blog
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site