peacefuljeffrey 0 #1 July 5, 2004 I just saw a "humorous" commercial for T-Mobile phone service. There were two skydivers and a tandem/passenger all hanging from some tall trees (bad spot?), and they were all arguing about who should call for help. None of them wanted to use their cellular phones because it was daytime and they didn't want to use their minutes before night. One guy points to the tandem passenger and says, "He should call!" The passenger says, "It's not seven o'clock yet! What do I look like, an idiot?!" So the tandem master pulls two "somethings" from the risers or harness above the passenger, and the guy releases from the TM's harness and falls what sounds like about two or three seconds to the ground! Um, yeah, maybe I'm taking this too seriously (I sometimes do) but you can't tell me that there won't be whuffos out there who will now believe they saw how it really works, and will believe that there is a "quick-release" snap to separate a tandem passenger from his TM... Personally, I think this SUCKS for skydiving's public image. Maybe we should sue. Blue skies, -Jeffrey-Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tunaplanet 0 #2 July 5, 2004 It's a commercial. Get over it. Forty-two Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #3 July 5, 2004 I think that commerical is hilarious. Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dzdiva 7 #4 July 5, 2004 QuoteI think that commerical is hilarious. Dave Ditto!"It's not just a daydream if you choose to make it your life..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #5 July 5, 2004 So . . . that's not how it works? Seriously, the concept of a skydiver starting a lawsuit like that . . . uh, I think that'd be a hell of a lot worse.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrazyIvan 0 #6 July 5, 2004 QuoteQuoteI think that commerical is hilarious. Dave Ditto! Ditto!!!__________________________________________ Blue Skies and May the Force be with you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peacefuljeffrey 0 #7 July 5, 2004 Alright, I left off the about the lawsuit -- I'm opposed to rampant, wanton litigiousness. Still, even though it's "just a commercial," it's gonna affect a lot of people who simply don't know that they're NOT accurately depicting a tandem rig. Isn't it possible that plenty of people who come out for tandems aren't quite sure they really want to do it? If people such as these come to believe that a few pins that can quickly be pulled by the TM can detach you and send you falling to your death, that might mean people unwilling to do it, who will never even come near enough to the DZ to learn that it can't happen that way. I just think it's stupid when "hollywood" (Madison Ave., whatever) depicts stuff that IS real in a way that it's NOT really done. I mean, if you have to twist a tandem skydive's technicals just to make the joke you want in your commercial, maybe you just shouldn't be using skydiving as the backdrop... --Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #8 July 5, 2004 QuoteIf people such as these come to believe that a few pins that can quickly be pulled by the TM can detach you and send you falling to your death Well, a tandem I did yesterday, the catchers were sleeping or something and weren't around (bad for me, me mad at them), as our feet touched and the flare was done, I quickly unhooked the student and took off running with the canopy. Its easier then you think. I've got a Jack the Ripper on the student harness that'll go through the upper connectors even quicker then that... Eitherway that commercial is freak'n hilarious, maybe this will keep the folks that shouldn't skydive from skydiving. The folks that want to will do it anyways.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #9 July 5, 2004 I just dont see it. To me, it seems like the kind of commercial a skydiver might write. Heck, tandem masters can use it to their advantage... "arch hard or i'll disconnect you like in the t-mobile commercial!" Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
n2skdvn 0 #10 July 5, 2004 just ask students how good their cell covrage isif my calculations are correct SLINKY + ESCULATOR = EVERLASTING FUN my site Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dzdiva 7 #11 July 5, 2004 Quotejust ask students how good their cell covrage is LMAO!! Now that's funny!"It's not just a daydream if you choose to make it your life..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #12 July 5, 2004 We use that sort of joke quite a bit. Putting the rig on, acting confused, looking and touching the cutaway and reserve handles then asking the video guy or another TM if the cutaway handle is "new" and what it does. Its usually brought up that one of them is the "parachute release" handle and the other is the "passenger release" and it goes from there. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jtval 0 #13 July 5, 2004 QuoteQuoteIf people such as these come to believe that a few pins that can quickly be pulled by the TM can detach you and send you falling to your death Well, a tandem I did yesterday, the catchers were sleeping or something and weren't around (bad for me, me mad at them), as our feet touched and the flare was done, I quickly unhooked the student and took off running with the canopy. Its easier then you think. I've got a Jack the Ripper on the student harness that'll go through the upper connectors even quicker then that... Eitherway that commercial is freak'n hilarious, maybe this will keep the folks that shouldn't skydive from skydiving. The folks that want to will do it anyways. DAVE, I know its a pain in the ass but if that happened again would you think about just cutting away the main or is it THAT easy to unhook the student in strong wind? (just curious, I would think cutting away would be easier and presumably less...um...DRAG! LOL)My photos My Videos Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #14 July 5, 2004 Some one please record and post the commercial for us non_USers And Jeff you can very quickly release the Tandem passenger, just undo the side stabilisers under canopy ,then you only have to 2 quick release snaps at the shoulders. the TM here do it all the time. As soon as the passenger touches ground and is steady (well mostly) there disconected.You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #15 July 5, 2004 It depends. If I can plant my feet right that we're sturdy for a 1/2 a second, then I can just pop the uppers off and get the canopy under control. If we start going over, I do NOT get dragged along the ground, especially with a student, the main is chopped. I've had to do that before as well a few months ago (i undershot the catchers and they were late in noticing...we started to get drug so bam, its gone).--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shotgun 1 #16 July 5, 2004 I think that commercial is hilarious too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
talon2 0 #17 July 5, 2004 You obviously did not have to field the calls to any small or large DZ after the release of Point Break or the Coke commercial etc.......Talk about funny..... Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jose 0 #18 July 5, 2004 QuoteI just dont see it. To me, it seems like the kind of commercial a skydiver might write. Dave, you couldn't be more correct. This rigging and stunt coordinating was done by a close jump friend of mine. I just saw it last week and said to myself, HEY! thats his commercial! It was filmed up in Vancouver BC. I was actually hoping to be one of the hangers in the background. Oh well. Jeffery, dude.......lame. Lame to even make a deal of it. Ya gotta be a duck man....just let it roll off your back. If ya fly up due to the rain, your just gonna get a full choke of #2 shot in the ass. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kennedy 0 #19 July 5, 2004 I think that's kinda his point. 85% of intelligent people knew skydiving wasn't much like that. Which leaves 85% of the population thinking it is. witty subliminal message Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards. 1* Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #20 July 5, 2004 I wouldn't sweat it. The attention span of the TV-watching public isn't long enough for an inaccuracy like that to be a concern. mh ."The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bch7773 0 #21 July 5, 2004 I think its pretty damn funny. especially after he disconnects the passenger, they all just watch calmly as he hits the ground. and i honestly thought TMs had some sort of quick release thing on their harnesses for the longest time, till i actually asked one. MB 3528, RB 1182 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #22 July 5, 2004 QuoteI think that's kinda his point. 85% of intelligent people knew skydiving wasn't much like that. Which leaves 85% of the population thinking it is. Hmm that makes 170%, more than the entire population That's because that let ANYONE breed You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #23 July 5, 2004 not exactly 170%... far less if you think about it... this means that 85% of the intelligent people represent 15% of the population... which leaves us with a big quantity of dumbasses... oh BTW in Switzerland to call for rescue, it's FREE, and it even works if you didn't pay your phone bills... Even without SIM card... You guys need to make some progress, not in advertising though...scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
newsstand 0 #24 July 5, 2004 The commercial is hilarious. If you watch my son's tandem video you would think there was a quick release. They hit in a perfect standup and my son more or less just walks away from the tandem master as if he had just been hanging on. "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyRamone 0 #25 July 5, 2004 Man who cares....Get outside and enjoy life... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
