Tag Archives: tiger

Face Fail on Live German TV: “Jumping Stilts” Accident

As seen on TV: the jumping stilts (warning: do not attempt to jump over car heading toward you)

Remember the jumping stilts (kangaroo stilts) you may have discovered on YouTube around 2007 (see SMPFilms video)? It’s probably not a good idea to use them to jump over the moving car your dad is driving.

Sir? You have a collect call from the Darwin Awards.

Here’s one for the Darwin Awards, Failblog, and “what did you think would happen?” file. Below is a video from the live broadcast of the German “Wetten Dass?” television show December 4, 2010… it’s not a pretty site, and the accident occurs at seven minutes. The “kangaroo stilt jumper” (Samuel Koch) takes a serious face plant while attempting to jump over a moving vehicle driven by his father. It’s really quite grueling to watch. I suppose when you perform with tigers, they will occasionally eat you.

Naturally, as long as we are entertained by wild stunts, we’ll encourage people to take risks. Those risks will come with consequences that are quite horrific. If the kid lives, it would appear paralysis would be possible– if not likely. And that kinda puts my balcony fail in perspective. The next time I trip and fall, I think I’ll utter the extremely unsympathetic statement “now I know how Samuel Koch felt.”

According to the BBC: Koch, a 23-year-old German contestant on a German game show, was hospitalized over the weekend, had numerous surgeries to fix his back and neck fractures, and remains in a “critical stage.” He made several successful jumps, but the live broadcast ended abruptly after the fail.  The show, which has been airing for about 30 years, is called”Wetten Dass?” It translates to “Want to Bet?” To read fairly comprehensive coverage with photos, see this DailyMall (UK) article. And if you get really obsessed, here’s more.

Again- not something to watch if you have a weak stomach. I caught the story on NBC, so of course I instantly searched recent videos with the words related to the story. I can only imagine what Sxephil and Failblog will do with this. It’s kinda sick to derive humor for it, but then again… I’d love to hear the “what were you thinking” answer from the network or television show’s safety crew.

In related news, Justin Bieber cancelled his appearance on the show. So if you want to see a young singer swallow razor blades while swimming through a piranha tank… you’re going to have to surf YouTube.

Tiger Wood’s Sponsors Scramble to Reposition Campaigns

Most Americans watch with intrigue about Tiger Woods and his sexual scandals (see this guy’s video claiming Tiger took him to Medieval Times, played with his golf balls and used his wood on him, or join the ratings of his women at Bleacher Reports). But me marketers are more interested in how Tiger Woods sponsors will handle their public affiliations with the philandering golfer.

Tiger is now, of course, the poster child for professional success at all costs. That fits quite well into business-consultant leader Accenture’s core positioning. But how will other brands adapt campaigns?

tiger woods women

Gatorade’s axed the Tiger “Focus” drink “before” the scandal (opting instead for a Lindsay Lohan “Purge” product line), other sponsors have pulled Tiger ads and remained silent about future plans.

Fortunately, thanks to WillVideoforFood, some of the planet’s most well-known and trusted brands need not suffer the humiliation of dropping Tiger when he’s down, or face the shame of affiliating with him during his, um, “discretions.”

For no cost, I’ve provided prominent Tiger Woods sponsors with some campaign slogans and adaptions that leverage this media sensation… turning lemons into lemon-ball vodka shots.

Tiger Woods hole

  • AT&T: “Better US Coverage Than Verizon or Tiger Woods’ Penis.”
  • Nike: “Just Do Her. And Her.”
  • Accenture: “We Know What it Takes to Pork a Tiger” (see existing ad, soon to replaced with footage of Tiger stumbling out of hotel rooms wearing only socks).
  • American Express: “Do you know me in the Biblical sense? Don’t tell my wife.” Also consider “Don’t Leave Home Without It, dark glasses, and a prepaid mobile phone.” Tiger may simply point to his crotch to punch the word “it.”
  • Gillete: “The Best a Man Can Get” campaign can pretty much stick with its campaign, and Tiger’s “the only thing that matters is today” line. He’ll be saying that a lot to his wife and family in coming months.

There are certainly well-meaning public relations and advertising professionals convening at this moment to determine how they’ll avoid getting mauled by Tiger’s scandal. And they’re reading consumer-generated media to get sentiment ratings and determine how this disaster is already effecting them.

Give those folks a break and toss them some ideas, huh?