Has anybody seen the SBC Yahoo commerical ?

I think it works just like the show about the American choppers and thhe AOL chopper acceleration device. they jump the cars and it works wrong, somebody ends up in the hospital. hummmm.....

the DSL com shows that if you had better DSL, you might not hit your car if you had researched better on the internet. true to life, it's all tounge and check, like most of life. (get that last word)

actually, it might just get some guys, interested in rocketry since they saw that rocket and said wow !

I just saw it this evening while watching a hockey game from the USA. I'm sure your Homeland Security guys will jump on this as an opportunity to put big restrictions on rocketry. They would probably think that's how it is with model rocketry. Maybe that is the missing BATF video of their vehicle blowing up. It was a great commercial until they blew up the car. I think that all of us in the hobby should complain about this commercial.

Alex Simins

Did anyone catch Jesse James the other night with his homemade bottle rocket that used an Estes engine (or a reasonable facsimile thereof)?

I thought it was pretty funny...

and he did it SAFETLY with electronic launcher and safe distance etc..

GO jesse james.

he also had a camio in torque :-)

} There is an TV add running for my local phone co's internet service. It } shows a father researching hobbies on the internet, and he orders a starter } rocket kit. The next scene he is out in a field, launching the rocket with } his son. So far so good, it makes rocketry look like a good father/son } activity. Of course there is a comedic catch, the rocket has a recovery } anomoly, and lawn darts into the fathers car, and BLOWS IT UP; to which the } father replies, maybe we should have brought your mothers car. } } Am I out of line, or does this commerical make us look like a bunch of bomb } making lunitics ? I thought about calling my local phone company, but after } being on hold for half an hour with a billing question I probably would have } never get through to register a complaint. If we all complained, or had NAR } and TRIPLOI HQ call them to register a complaint (or our lawyers). maaybe } they would listen. } }

It's an obviously humorous commercial. I can think of a whole bushel of other scenarios that would have been equally funny (or not).

I think a person will live longer if they learn to laugh at themselves as well as others.

As for DHS/ATF getting ahold of this and using it against the field, I must say I find that prospect, and the resulting shame they'd suffer at the hands of more reasonable legislators, to be even funnier than the ad.

According to my local station's (Fox 27 WCCU, Champaign, IL/Fox 55 WRSP, Springfield, IL) programming director, Jeri Waldeck, the ad was provided on the regional level by Cats Advertising as part of their syndicated programming. she was willing to deliver complaint letters to the station's sales manager at Cats. I have a phone number for the person that would know the appropriate contact person at SBC's advertising department and will have to try back later to reach this person.

For anyone in the Central Illinois area (or any other area for that matter) that wants to send out a letter to WCCU/WRSP for their review and forwarding, the address is:

WRSP TV Fox 55 ATTN: Jeri Waldeck

3003 Old Rochester Road Springfield, Illinois 62703

Jeri Waldeck can also be reached at 217.523.8855. I would suggest calling your local station to inform them of your feelings on this commercial if you are against it.

Got a responce from SBC, here it is ...

... my name is Glenn Higgins and I am the Director of Media Services for SBC Communications Inc. It is not our intention to disparage what is obviously an enjoyable hobby for you and your son. The commercial spot you reference is clearly an exaggeration and we are confident that the comedic elements convey that fact. The actor is Damon Wayans who is famous for his "tongue in cheek" humor on TV programs such as "In Living Color" and many Hollywood films. I realize this is a sensitive issue for you and we take that very seriously but feel that the spot's humor and tone communicate something far from reality. Please let me know if you have additional questions. Thanks in advance.

Glenn Higgins Director of Media Services SBC Communications Inc. snipped-for-privacy@sbc.com

I wish somebody would vidcap this commercial and post it to a.b.m.r. shockie B)

Just watch tv, it's now made it to primetime broadcast t.v.

-- "In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR

Telescope Buyers FAQ of Dahlias Slideshowv1.0 $10.00 for Windows machines. Email: snipped-for-privacy@despammed.com

Isn't it a regonial commercial rather than a nationwide one if they're pimping what used to be Southern Bell? -- Richard "gotta get back to Law & Order" Hickok

No, because out here in the west it used to be Pac.Bell, they've gobbled up many of the baby bells.

-- "In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR

Telescope Buyers FAQ of Dahlias Slideshowv1.0 $10.00 for Windows machines. Email: snipped-for-privacy@despammed.com

Using the phrase "reasonable legislators" is not reasonable since the US has very very few reasonable legislaors, and maybe none.

As to suffering shame, are these the same people who claimed that amateur rockets were a danger to commercial airlines at cruising altitude and could destroy tanks at 5 miles? Yes they are.

BATFE/USDoJ HAS NO SHAME when it comes to pursuing it's political agenda, both against rockets as well as firearms. Doug

I prefer the warm glow of a computer monitor as opposed to a TV.

Darnon

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Rhhickok) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m28.aol.com:

No, I've seen it here in Massachusetts.

len.

Poll: what network(s) has this ad appeared on?

of the baby bells.

Sorry boys, I stand corrected about my Southern Bell/ regonal airings (am I misspelling regonal? It just doesn't look right). -- Richard "I would have been surprised that they would have sprung for Damon Wayans for just a regonal market commercial" Hickok

Did you miss KFC is trying to associate itself with "Kitchen Fresh Chicken" now?

Joel. phx

I'm already feeling old trying to explain how things were when I was a kid to my kids. "No, KFC is short for Kentucky Fried Chicken,... well it used to be,.....".

Hey, I just noticed that my spellchecker changed my attempt to type Fried into Fired. Phunny.