Magazine Ad - Thoughts?

[sbrooks]

Ok... So I was at Chapter's today flipping through the latest copy of "SCUBA" - it’s the one with the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team (URT) article & RCMP diver on the front cover. One of the first few pages is an ad saying something along the lines of "The difference between certified and advanced is the equipment." I believe the ad was for an equipment manufacturer... BC's, fins, accessories etc.
May be I just have way too much time on my hands, but does this seem negative to anyone? I mean - we as divers stress the importance of skills, experience, and training to be a more qualified diver - something beyond certified. Do you think this ad gives off the wrong impression? Perhaps someone new to the sport would think, "Hey ... I've got the gear now, my tables say 130ft for "X" minutes... Why not??" Hopefully someone would have the common sense not do such a dive only with proper training and experience, but I think that's been proven wrong. Does the ad provoke a (possible new) diver to think they can dive beyond their training/experience?
Maybe I'm reading into this way too much... What is your opinion? :huh:
S.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

My table says 130 feet for 20 minutes if I do a 4 minute deco hang at 10 feet. I don't have whatever manufacturer's ad that was's equipment, but I do hav equipment.....and an OW cert. Hey, the tables never lie! *knock on plastic*



I suppose that buying an old Dacor dive table capable of calculating deco stops (it came with some other old gear I bought) wasn't a good idea?

 

[beautybelow]

I think the slogan itself does send a bad message to new divers. I think its something that everyone is used to though. Our senses are kind of dulled to things like that. Fortunately.

 

[sbrooks]

I think the slogan itself does send a bad message to new divers. I think its something that everyone is used to though. Our senses are kind of dulled to things like that. Fortunately.

Agreed..
I guess my point was that many new divers (pre/post OW cert.) will be buying magazines looking for more info - it can send the wrong message to those who's minds haven't been dulled already. For an industry demanding and priding itself on safety.. May not be the best idea. Having said this I don't want to sound like a tight-*** ... Everyone in this day and age need to take things at face-value.

S.

 

[PhilEllis]

.......For an industry demanding and priding itself on safety.. May not be the best idea. Having said this I don't want to sound like a tight-*** .......

I don't think the advertisments you saw were attempting to promote safety. They were attempting to promote equipment sales....like every other advert you see in a magazine. Even when an add is totally about safety, it is usually attempting to sale something.

Phil Ellis

 

[sbrooks]

I don't think the advertisments you saw were attempting to promote safety. They were attempting to promote equipment sales....like every other advert you see in a magazine. Even when an add is totally about safety, it is usually attempting to sale something.

Phil Ellis

Agreed - but do you see car ads showing drivers with a bottle of beer in their hand? No... I know its not the same thing.. Just playing devil's advocate.

S.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Come on, we all know beer helps bag cicks right? Must be true! I saw it on aTV commercial!

 

[grassyknoll]

The difference between certified and advanced is the equipment"

Perhaps they were refering to a recompression chamber.

 

[Guba]

The truest comment was "it's the same in just about every area..." (or something similar to that, anyway).

I went through OW with my my brother in law and his wife and watched as they selected the equipment for their new hobby. I was on a limited budget and had determined to rent "for a while" and acquire gear a piece at at time. They jumped into it with both feet. Yup, the LDS saw them coming. While they did acquire topline materials that would last a long time, they found over time that some of their purchases were, indeed, overkill with features they have never used or for which they have no use (and never will). And all this was "times two", since they got "matching gear". Did the gear make them better divers? Did purchasing the same equipment for both take into consideration personal preferences they might develop later (jacket BCD vs. back inflation, etc...). Of course not, but the pressure is still there to "look like a REAL diver", complete with all the neatest gadgets, full of bells and whistles. It's a shame that the confidence that comes with experience can't be applied to the times when we need it most, and that often times is early in our diving experiences.

 

[DarkCoffee]

Ah.. Truth in advertising. IMO we have an advertiser who wants to sell equipment and a publisher who wants to sell advertising space. Fairly certain that the elastic band that represents that line between 'truth' and 'fiction' is going to be stretched a tad to the '$$' side.

Not meaning to hijack here but I had to smile a tad after buying that issue.. Our local 'Sun' the next day ran a story on the local CAST team that recovered a missing person after the RCMP teams had given up. Both were cover stories on URT teams, both cover photos of an obviously cold ice dive.

Don't envy either of those teams.