Tobbaco Ads on NS

MalczykWatching for a few months I'm surprised there wasn't a mention on here about the Undiscovered contest as well as the Lifted Vice program being funded by Swedish Match, a tobacco company from Sweden .. Snus is an addictive tobacco product that has been present in skiing for a while (racers, Euros, they even had sponsored athletes at one point) so this is nothing new but they seem to be going in very heavy here again.

The contest and ads seem to follow the rules of the FDA. The advertising is directly pointed at the NS community which you can speculate has a lot of 'of age' users but seems to have a lot of underage members ripe for the influencing with cool videos, ads, social, editorial chatter about the videos and the like.

This type of advertising is heavily regulated in many other places and the same can be said for alcohol & energy drink ads but this discussion is about tobacco. So discuss! and anyone with inside insight are welcome to comment.

Mr.BishopI mean I would extend the question to you as well - when athletes on your team like Max Hill win an award for Best Smoking, do you feel that athlete should curtail their behavior because there are potentially some kids watching?

I'd be super interested in how you handle something like this as a sponsor, because as we're talking about this type of issue its great to really open it up.

Mr.Bishop1) 3rd party data has verified that 91% of Newschoolers traffic is above the age of 18. The very young skiers are much more fragmented and reached in different places than the youth of yesterday. Loads of them are hanging out on weird social networks, apps, or fragmented around the internet. Much longer discussion, however as NS has aged our community that was 12 when they started are now as old as 28.

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jensenOut of curiousity, how do they measure the age of the traffic coming through newschoolers? If a 16 year old is at home on the computer that their parents own, wouldn't the 16 year old essentially show up as being their parents? I would find it very surprising that only 1/10 NS users are under the age of 18.

DJAKIf it's chill to celebrate unhealthy choices in the content of a site (we all know what's in the edits), then perhaps advertising from such a source is fair game especially with today's targetting technology.

My advice? Only do tobacco when you're cocked.

Mr.BishopI mean the amount that the party lifestyle is promoted in skiing is mind boggling.

Mr.BishopDude you could extend this to any company that sponsors an athlete that promotes drugs, drinking and smoking. I mean the amount that the party lifestyle is promoted in skiing is mind boggling.

cydwhitReasons my work scares my mom, haha!

I think though that this is a huge conversation that needs to happen at some point. I think skiing is sort of "growing up" maybe and standards are changing a little. It will be important to keep the stoke and ridiculousness of skiing alive even as "culture" evolves. I think the OG "rebel" freeskiers need to be a huge part of this, maintaining that stoke while also deciding what our standards are.

DJAKI'm glad this is your problem to solve. Not mine. You have an undeniable truth, but it still may not convince. For whatever reason ads feel very different than "party content" on a platform and people like the little white sociatal lie between them. I'd bet that the party content is more persuasive than the ads, but only one of them brings out this common (and rational) response.

caucasian_chadSkiing has always had a dirtbag party hard element to it, even before freeskiing was a thing. I don't really see that changing any time soon.

e~bim 15 years old and these ads don't sway my thoughts at all... snus is disgusting

hyllengrenHey snus is incredible people! Stop hating start snusing

fordbennettGood on you. Can you PM me though please? You shouldn't be seeing this, and now I'm worried there's a mistake in there somewhere. Technology can only be semi-trusted so lets get this hashed out.

busted

hyllengrenHey snus is incredible people! Stop hating start snusing

Mr.BishopEven in the future nothing works.



Hail Satan!

Maybe we should enforce mandatory drug tests on everyone that is allowed to be a professional skier?

fordbennettGood on you. Can you PM me though please? You shouldn't be seeing this, and now I'm worried there's a mistake in there somewhere. Technology can only be semi-trusted so lets get this hashed out.

busted

nutz.#fis

Mr.BishopAlso, just to note: I am a father of two children, so I have some frame of reference from a parents perspective.

toastyteenagersinb4 bishops kids grow up and get on ns

Mr.BishopSo this stuff is highly regulated, which is interesting. I was involved in this pitch, and there's been a few protections put in place.

1) 3rd party data has verified that 91% of Newschoolers traffic is above the age of 18. The very young skiers are much more fragmented and reached in different places than the youth of yesterday. Loads of them are hanging out on weird social networks, apps, or fragmented around the internet. Much longer discussion, however as NS has aged our community that was 12 when they started are now as old as 28.

2) We are using a brand new behavioral targeting system, which uses 3rd party data to assess the age of a user, and display them targeted ads. This is in place for this campaign, and from what the company that provides this service tells us, its quite accurate. Its the same stuff that is used widely across the internet to handle this type of ad.

These facts together make me feel like we've put in an enormous amount of effort to make sure that this is appropriate for the legal audience. I personally think its up to a person what they want to do, and if laws are followed, kids aren't targeted then its OK.

I mean I would extend the question to you as well - when athletes on your team like Max Hill win an award for Best Smoking, do you feel that athlete should curtail their behavior because there are potentially some kids watching?

I'd be super interested in how you handle something like this as a sponsor, because as we're talking about this type of issue its great to really open it up.

MinggI don't think an Ad will stray a kid away from that unless they have already started smoking.chewing.


eh. Tobacco companies are pretty damn good at doing this.

marrows....does no one here use any type of adblocker at all?

JLevAt that point there's a chance we can start reinvesting back into the sport & supporting ourselves without begging for anything we can get from any & all outside corporations willing to give us a dollar!

JLevAt that point there's a chance we can start reinvesting back into the sport & supporting ourselves without begging for anything we can get from any & all outside corporations willing to give us a dollar!

Mr.BishopThe craziest part is thinking about them seeing everything that I've ever posted, that has ever been posted about me, and them analyzing me as both their dad and a regular guy.

We'll see how that goes. :)

JLevThe most depressing part of this whole discussion is the reality the ski industry itself doesn't have the capacity to support its own best assets like NS and other media, athletes, events, etc. and is left with little choice but to relay on outside companies unrelated to skiing to keep it alive.

The reason is that the majority of the ski industry is now owned by public companies: Atomic, Salomon, K2, Volkle, Line, Powder mag, Full Tilt, Dalbello, North Face, Marker, and YES EVEN NEWSCHOOLERS!! is owned by a public company and too many more to list. . . Each year the money you put into the industry when buying their products turns into MILLION$$$ of profit which 15 years ago was then reinvested back into the industry supporting & helping grow media, athletes, events, and helping inspired & assist others to get into the sport etc.

Today that profit gets drained out of the industry and into the pockets of wallstreet investors that own shares of the parent companies that own these winter sports brands. It's the Murican way!!! and at some point in the future after years if not decades of these brands being squeezed & drained for every last bit of profit, passionate employees being fired, product being watered down and marketing budgets being slashed & burned my hope is the brands will be sold back to the passionate people that are in it for the good of the sport, most of which are still working running these brands with their hands tied behind their back in the name of increased public company profits. At that point there's a chance we can start reinvesting back into the sport & supporting ourselves without begging for anything we can get from any & all outside corporations willing to give us a dollar!

IBAMAs JLev said, the lack of reinvestment occurring in the industry is the root cause behind why media sources like NS have no choice but to take these high-paying ad campaigns from companies they might not otherwise associate with. I personally would prefer the ads not run if there was that option, but I care more about NS being able to support itself than having to look at some ads I just chose to ignore. Sure, I'd rather see ski ads for an independent ski company, but I'm happy knowing that my view contributes to the well being of NS.