[Q THE GURU]

"no barrel plugs, no goggles, this puts a negative view about paintball out to millions of people....just what we need"


what about any of that is "negative"? Just some people not following the so -called "rules"... you guys need to settle down with some of this crap. Every time a commercial or a TV show or an ad spot is out people get all up in arms. Did you honestly think that after spending millions of dollars for a commercial they would not air it bc a pile of teen agers sent in some harsh email or tried to call an automated service and leave a message. To the dude that says he can give out a personal address for someone associated with the commercial- if that was my address or my friends address and you gave it out you would get your arse handed to you along with a lawsuit. Stop being a freakin baby

[speednut]

Sent mine, here's what I wrote:

As a very loyal drinker of your fine Bud & Busch products and a very dedicated player of the sport of paintball, I found your superbowl ad this past weekend very alarming. Although it was great to see paintball on a TV commercial, it was a very poor way to portray it. The "ref" in the commercial should have been wearing a full face protective mask not shop glasses. Also being shot by paintballs at "point blank" range is not a very pleasant experience. Paintball has a great safety record if proper gear is worn and safety procedures such as barrel plugs are used.
My suggestion would be for future airing of this ad would be to add a disclaimer such as " people in this ad are paid actors, when playing paintball protective gear must be worn and safety procedures followed".

A better ad would be to show a group of mid-20ish players finishing their last game of the day and comparing their "welts" over a few BUDS. (after they remove their face shields, of course)
Alcohol & Paintball don't mix too well unless it's after the game. We don't want the kiddies to get the wrong idea.

Just my 2 cents...

[raehl]

It was obvious the people in the commercial were doing something they were not supposed to be doing. All we're doing now is sencding the message that if you do commercials about paintball, all you'll get is a buncha paintballers complaining about it.

This will probably be Bud's last paintball-themed commercial, thanks to the paintball players.

- Chris

[ditangquan]

good. that makes me happy.

[Redthunder4]

Sent

[IvAn2740]

It was pretty funny tho, and it's supposed to be taken as a joke, i'm sure people aren't going to ban paintball because of that comercial, calm down guys.

[sensei]

chris,

whether the complaints were done wrong or right, we made a noise causing concern. maybe we lost budweiser's support, but we may have saved a few eyes. i don't think anything can/will ever kill paintball's growing popularity, on the other hand, once someone has lost their eye sight (either through ignorance or by not taking the proper safety precautions) they can never get that eye sight back. it's all fun 'n games till someone looses an eye...

much applause, paintball players. keep up the good work.

sensei

Originally posted by raehl
It was obvious the people in the commercial were doing something they were not supposed to be doing. All we're doing now is sencding the message that if you do commercials about paintball, all you'll get is a buncha paintballers complaining about it.

This will probably be Bud's last paintball-themed commercial, thanks to the paintball players.

- Chris

[raehl]

I don't agree that the commercial is going to cause anyone to lose an eye. It's a commercial. Commercials have things in them that are not real. While I realize this commercial hits close to home for paintball players, an objective view would find nothing wrong with the commercial.

Nobody who was not going to shoot at people without proper safety equipment is going to do so because of this commercial, and no one who had a positive or mixed opintion of paintball prior to seeing the commercial is going to have a negative one afterwards. It was a *GOOD* commercial. The whole thing that makes it funny is that it's obvious you're not supposed to shoot at people during the safety briefing.

Yes, we need to make sure that depictions of people playing paintball involve proper safety - but this was not a depiction of people playing paintball.

No reasonable person would believe that what transpired in the commercial was ok in real life. In fact, the only reason the commercial works is because it EXPECTS that any reasonable person would know you're not supposed to do that.

- Chris

[sensei]

problem is: not everyone is "reasonable"...

[raehl]

But if we ran society based on unreasonable people, life would stink all around.

- Chris

[Winnie]

"a commercial will not cause people to do things"? Think about this a minute, how many people in this country, or lets say even on this web site, depend on others for advice? How many totally idiotic comments get posted on here everyday? If people weren't influanced by what they see or what others do or say, then why are we all here using this forum to begin with? Not to mention, can anyone tell me the purpose of a commercial????
That's right, to influence others & affect the choices they make. Is it not?? Why spend millions for absolutely no reason? I will admit that it could be looked at as kinda funny to some & thats great, but the real issue is safety. For those of you that dissagree & care not for the safety of others, then perhaps you could either keep quite & post on a different topic or better yet, find a different hobby before it's YOU that hurts someone on the field.
Bud has always been a leader as far as advertising goes, i should know, thats what i do, lol. And i also think it's great that the company i've worked for for so long is finally getting involved with paintball. But this was the wrong way to do it. The idea of "the after game beer" that was mentioned earlier would have
been much better, for all of us.

By the way, I'm the one that started this whole ordeal & trust me, it was a hard decision for me to go against the company i work for, but since a close friend & teammate almost lost his eye, i know first hand how this can permenatly change a person's life, not to mention everyone else that is affected indirectly.
Yes, I'm been told that there were better ways for me to go about all of this by actually keeping it "in house" so to speak. Then i thought "what will the voice of one person do, in this situation"? Most likely, not taken seriously, but the voices of many from the paintball community will be listened to. So i chose to go this route, & believe me, it's been heard!

For the record, it was never my intent for anyone to boycott or anything else of that nature, just to be heard & do my best to make a difference. I just felt that this kind of publicity would do much more harm then good, for AB & for paintball.

Thank you to everyone that voiced thier opinion on this & to all of you adults out there, DRINK MORE BUDWEISER & BUD LIGHT!
But do it safely.
To all of you that actually know me or know who i am, next time ya see me say something, the first few rounds of Bud Lt are on me! Play hard & play safe.

[TrentC]

Although I live in Australia i have viewed the bud light comercial and I think it can have a negative effect on paintball. Laws in australia are very strict due to our politicians having the wrong idea about paintball. eg war like, unsafe ect. I would be careful as all it takes is a few politicians in your state to say paintball looks unsafe ect.

Dont want it like Aus where some states it is 100% banned. Need a gun licence to own one and must be secured in a safe or gun cabnet, over 18, some states pump-only or need a gun licence to simpy play. Oh also illegal to import semi-auto into australia.

To those who think it cant have a negative effect sorry I would have to agree. Not saying I didnt find it funny but could have been otherways to use paintball to promote bud light.

[MobiusMorte]

Saw the commercial, about fellout of my chair laughing so hard. I had just come back from reffing a scenario game when I saw the commercial during the NHL all-star game. My wife, who had just heard all of my stories about the "idiot" players shooting me and the other refs all weekend, laughed harder than I did.
the important thing to remember is that this is good exposure for paintball, I don't think someone is going to watch this commercial and then think that is how paintball is really played.
So, I would suggest we all just take a deep breath and relax.

[Kyle J Flood]

I was amazed ...I got a real reply from the Company...Ill assume its a form letter but ... here it is ...

Dear Kyle,

Thank you for contacting Anheuser-Busch regarding your concerns about our TV ad, “Paintball.” We always appreciate hearing from the public, even when it comes in the form of criticism.



We regret this ad offended you. It was certainly not our intention to upset anyone who participates in paintball activities, or make light of the many precautions taken by those who officiate the competitions. Instead, we only wanted to reflect in a humorous manner the great lengths a group of fictitious characters went to in order to get a Bud Light as part of their active outdoor lifestyle. We meant for this ad to be a tongue-in-cheek play on paintball competitions and we believe the public undoubtedly recognizes the fun spirit and aim of the commercial.



In addition, before airing this ad, it was tested extensively among diverse groups of men and women, from a variety of backgrounds, to evaluate attitudes and reactions to this spot. Overwhelmingly, these groups found the ad to be humorous, amusing and appropriate.



While we realize that not all marketing programs will appeal to everyone, we thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. We do take the concerns of the public seriously and will keep your comments in mind as we develop future advertising.



Again, Kyle, thank you for e-mailing Anheuser-Busch. Please contact us if you have additional questions or comments.



Regards,



Anheuser-Busch Customer Call Center

1-800-DIAL-BUD (1-800-342-5283)


I give them kudos for actualy answering me back...that shows they at least have the stones to face things like this...in one form or another.