Positive Bicycle Advertising

On my recent visit to France I noticed the bicycle on many different adverts and brochures. It's no secret that the bicycle has become high profile in advertising over the past year or so, but there were many positive images. Like this advert for Promod, an online fashion shop.

Even on the cardboard sleeve that my room key came in at the hotel in Paris there was a happy cycling couple.

At Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, an advert for HSBC bank featured Asian urban cyclists.

A brochure for the city of La Rochelle.

And from elsewhere, these adverts featuring the bicycle:

Advert for the clothing company Killah.

Tourism brochure for the Swedish province of Skåne [Scania].

Advert for Vodaphone in Prague.

Advert for The House of Fraser clothing store in London.

All this symbolism is, of course, good. Cementing the bicycle as a normal part of life and not merely reserved for 'enthusiasts'.

Are we approaching that all important tipping point in some regions? It seems so. Let's hope it is the case.

Message to brain after viewing them: Cycling is enjoyable, fun, social and acceptable.

Overcomplicating Winter Cycling - Why It's Bad

One of the main focuses of this blog has always been on how Copenhagen and other cities have succeeded in increasing cycling levels by approaching the subject using mainstream marketing techniques. Tried and tested marketing that has existed since homo sapiens first started selling or trading stuff to each other. Modern bicycle advocacy, by and large, is flawed. It is firmly inspired by environmentalism which, in turn, is the greatest marketing flop in the history of humankind. Four decades of sub-cultural finger-wagging, guilt trips and preaching have given few results among the general population. When sub-cultural groups start trying to indoctrinate and convert the public, it rarely ever succeeds. For the better part of a century, people all over the planet rode bicycles because they were quick, easy, convenient and enjoyable. In hilly cities. In hot cities. In snowy cities. After the bicycle largely disappeared from the urban landscape because urban planning s...

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I think it's safe to say that we have a pressing need for marketing cycling positively if we're to encourage people to ride bicycles and begin the transformation of our cities into more liveable places. Instead of scare campaigns about cycling [a life-extending, healthy, sustainable transport form], wouldn't it be more appropriate to begin campaigns about the dangers of automobiles? Many people in car-centric countries no longer regard cars as dangerous. Maybe they realise it, but the car is such an ingrained part of the culture that the perception of danger rarely rises to the surface of peoples consciousness. Sure, there are scare campaigns for cars out there, but what if we just cut to the chase? Much like smoking. Only a couple of decades ago, cigarettes were an integral part of life, whether you smoked or not. That has changed radically. We think that we could borrow freely from the health warnings now found on cigarette packs around the world. In order to be tho...

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