Opinion That Ben Johnson Ad

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Magpiespower said:
So on-brand it's not funny. Well, actually it is. Execution is spot-on.

America holds its breath as The Prez gives away classified intel to the enemy.

Meanwhile, Australia loses its s**t over an irreverent ad, lol...
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raptalia said:
If the ad were for anything but a betting agency it would not be a huge issue for me. They could have an actor dressed as Adolph Eichmann advertising gas ovens for all I care. It is a betting agency making light of the use of PEDs.
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Really? Ironically accidental response to the post just before yours. Don't give Sportsbet's "Mad Men" any more bright ideas, please. No fan of gambling myself but it has its place in a relatively free world. Ditto PEDs, in medicine. I'd prefer not to see a betting agency "making light of the [mis]use of" gas ovens though.

Watched the ad. Did laugh. I feel slightly dirty for having enjoyed the ad. "Sportsbet-voice" meme is brilliant for their target audience.

Yes we currently let PED cheats back into competition, and their penalty is considered to be the time of exclusion. That's because all we have been able to do until very recently is to catch a few relatively close to the time of offence. In other words, the culture is in part a consequence of the tech available. In a sort of reverse Minority Report, when we go back and post-analyze tens of thousands of samples in the future and catch people who cheated ten, twenty years back, will we demand they return medals? Strip their clubs of flags, in team sports? When do we start making them sign contracts agreeing to return - or agreeing to be sued for the return of - earnings and sponsorship monies decades later? It's not so outlandish a notion... taxation law, and "crimes against humanity" laws already work broadly that way. Maybe one day PED cheats will be seen, culturally, in the same light as tax cheats. Probably never on the same level as war criminals though.
 
Don't care one iota either way for gambling advertisements, social media, memes, etc, so I have nil interest in watching in.

Even if it is a finely executed satire, it's not great timing, considering multiple codes of professional Australian sports are still recovering from club sanctioned drug scandals. You should be able to see why some think it is in poor taste. Timing is everything.
 

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badbeats said:
So what you are saying is Ryder and the rest shouldn't be playing, making money, doing media etc because they doped?
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I didn't say that at all. A clean Ben Johnson can run around an athletics track and compete all he likes but he should not be making light of PEDs and particularly not for a betting agency. As for Paddy and co I have not noticed them advertising or making a joke out of players using PEDs.

We cannot have it both ways we are either serious about PEDs in sport or we are not.
 
Don't see why he shouldn't be able to make some money from it. It was 29 years ago and he's lost himself millions already. And when someone comes out of prison and gets themselves a bit of money with a book how many people are ready to say "he's paid his debt to society". And we are talking real criminals here, not sports cheats.
 
finbarr said:
I hate all those ads, especially the yobbo voice over guy and the fat prick who stars in them, but isn't this Black Diamond Corner material?
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When watching streams of British TV for the Premier League I noticed they use the same ads for their equivalent betting company but with a hammy Danny Dyer kind of accent dubbed over the top.

Top thread, btw.
 
I think its a great ad.
The PC in this country is getting ridiculous. If a company wants to push the limits in their advertising, then so be it, as long as they are not doing anything that discriminates then who cares.

I also think this is Sportsbets last ad campaign before the new laws take place? so they needed to make sure it was well talked about so people get to them before they can no longer advertise during prime time.
 
finbarr said:
I hate all those ads, especially the yobbo voice over guy and the fat prick who stars in them, but isn't this Black Diamond Corner material?
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I think so. Redirect has been left on the main page.
 
scotty13 said:
I think its a great ad.
The PC in this country is getting ridiculous. If a company wants to push the limits in their advertising, then so be it, as long as they are not doing anything that discriminates then who cares.

I also think this is Sportsbets last ad campaign before the new laws take place? so they needed to make sure it was well talked about so people get to them before they can no longer advertise during prime time.
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there are a few good reasons why tobacco, booze, pr0n and gambling ads are 'limited', and it isn't just "PC...ridiculous" nor just the traditional clear cut reasons to do with discrimination. sometimes, in time, 'stuff' comes to be understood as potentially damaging for some of us and is therefore controlled. as with substances, so with the adverts for them - not perfect consistency, because if there was, tobacco would be as legal as dope and the Advertiser would be banned as "proven injurious to mental health" - but some attempts to limit rather than completely control. Umpiring to interpretations, not nannying us to death.

It's a well executed ad within their brand. It does push limits that as you point out aren't easily signposted let alone tested. I do think not all the limits we ought to put on ourselves can be easily signposted of listed as clauses at law. Me, I ought to be auto-limited to 140 characters as tl;dr is one of my worst attributes as a poster ;) As I said before, I laughed and shook my head at the same time. I suspect Sportsbet-voice-as-a-thing will hang around long after the ads are off mainstream media - true story - I heard an Aussie of Arab descent use "that voice" on me in a job interview a couple of years ago ... at that point I figured I had the job. That bloke did turn out to be a bit of a punter.

Would love to see The Gruen Transfer's take on this one!
 
RussellEbertHandball said:
Puts the roid in Android. Very clever.
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mmm yes clever. I saw a few Blade Runner stories today for some reason. special anniversary? don't know

you can bet your life the first Post-orius 'human' to attempt to play pro sport with a few artificial, nature-identical or custom-enhanced-printed body parts will make that line about androids seem naive. "therapeutic use exemptions" my ****. they will all be walking bags of exemptions. I for one look forward to seeing the, um scans of, the first footy player with an organ 3d-printed in club colours. "his loyalty runs deep" quips Dennis commeti aged 86 from the special comments section of his nursing home.
 

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DaTBird187 said:
I couldn't stop laughing the first time I saw it and for me it is the best ad currently on TV.

The original incident was 30 years ago, when without doubt 75% of athletes were doping. If he hadn't have beaten Carl Lewis so brazenly, they probably wouldn't have tested him.
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Carl Lewis had 2 positives that were covered up by the US athletic/Olympic authorities. And the man bitched royal about Johnson.

Mammoth chode.
 
tribey said:
Carl Lewis had 2 positives that were covered up by the US athletic/Olympic authorities. And the man bitched royal about Johnson.
Mammoth chode.
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Same about playing against athletes with HIV. Phil Smyth didn't want to play against Magic Johnson as basketball is a high sweat game and Magic was HIV-positive. The Americans bitched until he played in the Olympics. Nothing came of it in the end but what would the Americans have said if a basketballer from another country was a possible source of infection to one of their own?
 
Apparently they paid him $200k to appear in the ad. Tidy little pay day.
 
mic59 said:
Same about playing against athletes with HIV. Phil Smyth didn't want to play against Magic Johnson as basketball is a high sweat game and Magic was HIV-positive. The Americans bitched until he played in the Olympics. Nothing came of it in the end but what would the Americans have said if a basketballer from another country was a possible source of infection to one of their own?
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Magic did make an abortive comeback to the NBA in 1992.

But was basically run out of the league because HIV.

Dat bald Aussie dude, tho...
 
mic59 said:
Same about playing against athletes with HIV. Phil Smyth didn't want to play against Magic Johnson as basketball is a high sweat game and Magic was HIV-positive. The Americans bitched until he played in the Olympics. Nothing came of it in the end but what would the Americans have said if a basketballer from another country was a possible source of infection to one of their own?
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Yeah I remember that. In one of the USA's games Magic got the ball and shaped to drive to the basket for a layup.
The oppo parted like the Red Sea. Speaking of red when Greg Louganis(?) the American diver hit his head on the diving platform's edge
and blood could be seen in the pool he only admitted much later that he was HIV+ at the time, reasoning that the chlorine in the pool would
prevent any risk.
 
I remember seeing that Johnson run on live tv.

He was going that fast in the first 30 metres or so, that he almost drifted into the next lane, which would have meant instant disqualification.
He still had time to balance himself and take off again, which should have been nigh on impossible in a world class 100 metre final.
He must have been on some extremely strong stuff. :rolleyes:
 
Daniel Flynn said:
Did he get paid for it? That doesn't seem right but the ad itself is great
On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
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Of course he was. ASADA/WADA are there to make sure he doesn't compete with an unfair advantage, but there's nothing to say he can't make any money. And it was 29 years ago and he's been invisible ever since so I reckon he's done his time. It is a bit of a cliche and maybe not the best phrase to use in this case but drug dealers get less.
 
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