how far does bad publicity go?

[Baca Loco]

ok...

Originally posted by snowythehobo
it seems like ure answering the question - how much publicity do these things get... as apposed to how far it goes - what do the public make of these events? does it really reflect badly on a sport or are people just paranoid?

cheers
hobo

Despite a small contingent in this country that seems to be as concerned as you all are over any whiff of bad PR I personally don't really think the majority of the stories have any significant impact on the perception of paintball.
The incidents you mentioned aren't generally seen as part of the growing problem with paintball guns so much as they are a variation on the youth and crime theme. For the most part the paintball gun angle is little more than a hook to get some attention. A story that got mucho national attention briefly awhile ago was about a "club" of young men going around beating up other kids. Why, you may ask, did that garner so much attention? Cus the morons videotaped themselves doing it so TV had images to show, dressed it up as decrying moral decay, put on a couple of talking heads to psychologize and presto--instant responsible journalism.
Even with Bambi the paintball aspect was secondary to naked women being hunted by men. They could as easily have been using other than paintball markers to do the hunting.

Over here I think most of the stories that portray the misuse of paintball guns have no impact on the general public except for the small percentage that overreact to everything.

 

[TOOLE]

At the end of the day, these things are not gonna get much publicity outside of a small local newspaper which no-one reads, especially in america. How many people get shot with real guns every day in america? lots. Newspapers don't report almost any incidences of this much more extreme violence, and so misuse of paintball equipment isn't exactly gonna get very much publicity.

 

[John_Wilson]

how far?

Well slightly off the american/canadian thing,

try asking students at uni if they want to play paint ball
answers:

1) No it hurts
2) No its expensive
3) No I've seen biker grove! <enter rude words here about makers of biker grove>

Answer your question?

how long ago was that? must be at least 10 years, still get that answer.

 

[snowythehobo]

ok well i think i know the truth now... it doesnt at all... some people on these boards exagerrate things an make them seem worse than they are... now i know wat to think...

cheers

ps. wat about byker grove? i know it sucks but...

 

[John_Wilson]

apparently one of the muppet twins (ant and dec) dunno which lifted his mask and got blinded.
never really watched it, but people obviously remember it.

 

[snowythehobo]

kk... silly byker grovians...

 

[JoseDominguez]

ask on any Uni campus

"want to play paintball"
you'll get "no it's too expensive"
or "no, I have to get up before noon"
I tried to run a paintball society about 5 years back, I've got friends doing it at 3 Unis now..............hit the same brick wall......paintball is just too expensive for the masses. Yes they'll go once, and love it, but they can't go regularly............ punters don't see it as a sport, they see an expensive one off entertainment and don't realise they could get into tourneys. How many players per weekend at your average site? how many come back to try for site teams? it's not pushed enough. I needed new players a few months back, I went to one site and picked up 4 who now play regularly ......they loved rec, I introduced them to tourney.
We still run paintball like a secret society..... otherwise it would get expensive for us.
Ever hear this one whilst at a rec day
"Wow, you play tournament? how much paint do you use?"
"HOW MUCH? it must cost you thousands"
my response is usualy........erm, yes. look a squirrel! then I run away.
It's not lack of publicity that's keeping people away, it's the fact that most peoples first encounter with it is extremely expensive.

 

[bluelite]

I usually get the same general response as Jose D. Whenever I bring up paintball in the general public, almost everyone has heard of it, and most have a positive view of it and would like to try it. They invariably ask about the cost and when I explain to them the different costs they say that it sounds expensive. I guess that is subject to who you are dealing with. Since I am usually dealing with the lower economic end of my area, it probably does seem expensive. However, it doesn't cost anymore than a round of golf in the same area so I don't think it puts it out of the realm of most people. Our university students are definitely not put off by the cost. Baylor University students spend more of their parents money on cigarettes and beer in one week than I spend on paintball. I think students don't play more because it requires waking up before 4 o'clock on Saturday and Sunday. That cuts into the "getting ready for tonights party" time.

 

[JoseDominguez]

It's different for rec players in the UK mate... a decent day will cost you £80 plus for your first time out.
It's something a lot of people consider a one off treat.