[suppa roosta]

Rumor has it that both Monkeys are vying for the same love interest!

 

[Nightfire]

I see a comment on YouTube

Mike

 

[Jon]

Here's how to locate and communicate with members of the automotive aftermarket marketing community so that we can respectfully let them know what's going on here.

First, I just typed "automotive marketing" into Google. The first link points to a list of websites that are involved in automotive marketing: list of automotive marketing sites . Not bad, 51 sites are listed. The 5th site immediately catches my eye: Advanced Digital Strategies, LLC. Their description is: "Information source for the automotive aftermarket, specializing in marketing and technology topics."

These words catch my eye: digital, information, aftermarket, marketing, technology. They sound like a web-savvy company. They'll probably have a good background understanding of this situation. Plus, I can see that they specialize in the aftermarket, which is largely what covers the hotrodding industry (as opposed to say, marketers who work for new car dealers, etc.).

I visit their site. Looks good. Information-based, lots of articles. They mention concepts such as data mining and search engine optimization. And, they even have forums. Low-volume, but it shows that they are most probably not just tech-savvy, but familiar with online culture. Then, I check out their "About Us" page: About Advanced Digital Strategies, LLC . Experience with websites, tech knowledge, years in the aftermarket industry. Perfect.

I click the "Contact Us" link, and look at the first entry. There are some website and marketing association names that I recognize. Time to email him. The text of the email is below, followed by commentary:

Hello,

My name is Jonathan. I'm the administrator for the Hotrodders Bulletin Board, a large forum for hotrodding enthusiasts.

I found your website through a directory listing of automotive marketing companies at Dmoz.org. I saw on the "About Us" section of your site that you've been involved with ClassicCar.com, SEMA, and online marketing for the automotive aftermarket.

I'm writing to you because the members of our website are working to spread awareness throughout the entire automotive marketing industry about marketing tactics used on our forums that we feel were manipulative and unethical.

Specifically, marketers working for Gas Monkey Garage spammed our forums with promotional material. This is actually fairly common. However, in this situation, the promotional material included:

1. A photograph of two men posing in "tough-guy" pose, wearing nothing but black thong bikinis that read: "Spank My Monkey". No joke.

2. A video in which the head of Gas Monkey Garage, Richard Rawlings, proclaims that he is the "Anti-Christ of the Hot Rod World".


Furthermore, this was done under the guise of "help us choose a charity to contribute to" (while we create buzz for our new TV show).


In typical internet fashion, we've put together a hilarious parody of their attempted maneuver. I think that it will really be enjoyed by anyone involved in automotive marketing.


Here's a link to two quick examples of their parodied promotional photo:

http://www.hotrodders.com/badboyspic12

http://www.hotrodders.com/badboyspic17


And, if you're interested, here's a link to the full discussion, with numerous other examples:

http://www.hotrodders.com/badboys


At very least, we think it stands as a fine example of how not to market to online automotive enthusiasts. I hope you enjoy it.


Thanks,

Jonathan
Administrator, Hotrodders Bulletin Board

Some notes:

• First I introduce myself, and state my position and my affiliation.
• Next, I demonstrate that I've taken the time to visit his site (not just the main page either). He knows I'm not a spammer, sending out the same message to millions of people.
• Next, I get right to the point. I tell him why I'm writing to him, without trying to beat around the bush.
• I don't make an accusation, I give an opinion. I say that "we feel" that the marketing tactics were manipulative and unethical.
• I give some quick examples, being sure to name Gas Monkey Garage and Richard Rawlings.
• I give two quick links to some of the best parody pics. Note how I've set up short redirect links. This is so that the links won't break in the email, because they're too long.
• I give the link to the full discussion.
• Thank him, and I'm done. Move down the list to the next site that catches my eye. When that list is done, back to Google to find more listings.

Bear in mind that these people probably won't post in this thread (a wise move, from their perspective). However, they're the ones you see as the numerous anonymous "guests" browsing this thread.

 

[Henry Highrise]

Hmmmm....the old saying...the pen is mightier than the sword...in this case...its the mouse and the keyboard. :thumbup:

 

[WakBordr7387]

How could I have missed this deliciously hilarious thread?!?!?!
And Why didn't anyone tell me about it, everyone knows I like to make fun of peoples pics!!!

Oh well, I got one in the works right now, I'll post it in a minute. But I just wanna say this.
Im sure everyone here has seen some shock pics, where trolls on the internet post the grossest most disturbing pics they can in order to tick someone off?
I just posted this pic on one of them sites, so this little fiasco could be one big internet joke :thumbup:
Just before I posted the pic on that website though, I took the hotrodders address off, I would hate to see some of those idiots come here ain:


Brad

 

[powerrodsmike]

where are you posting them brad?
rotten? Craigs list rants and raves is a good place too. Try the San Francisco edition. Maybe the M4M section too.
I'll bet rich and his posture challenged friend get lots of ...er propositions from there.
later, mikey

 

[WakBordr7387]

Here's my first one, I'll get some more crap done later.
Nightfire, those emails are very tempting, I might have some fun with them later :evil:


Brad

 

[Jon]

Let's keep this within our standard board guidelines (I just had to split a post out to the Dump). Believe me, I know the temptation is there. However, we lose our sharp wit when we degrade to potty humor and blatant "gay jokes". I know the original promotional material has some disturbing ****-erotic undertones, but keep in mind that there are no doubt many homosexuals who are legitimately offended by their lifestyle being portrayed by Richard Rawlings.

WakBordr7387 -- good to see you in here. Nice first submission. BTW, if you missed this thread, then clearly it hasn't been sufficiently publicized. My error. I'll do some more work posting it in the board header, and on other parts of the site. It looks like we now have enough material to set up a dedicated gallery page with our wonderful parodies, and a summary of this fiasco. Also, nice work on the forethought regarding posting the pic on the net. Fortunately, there is a place on the net for every type of picture. Pass it around as much as you can, but pass it differently as each situation requires. I recently had a member PM me a parody pic for approval before posting it on this board. It was not within the limits of our posting guidelines, but I might have him contact you for a more appropriate place to post it.

I'll take care of that tomorrow though. I've been busy playing with video editing software all day .

 

[Rob Keller]

R

 

[Classix_Lover]

Here's my first one, I'll get some more crap done later.
Nightfire, those emails are very tempting, I might have some fun with them later :evil:


Brad

Yea where have you been Brad?? I mean geez, I gave the thread what it deserves, a damn 5 and no less to attract more people to it :thumbup: :thumbup: I'll come up with more parodies sometime, I have to be fresh though so I'll do it when I wake up in the morning tomorrow. Believe me, I wanted to do some pretty funny ones but they would easily fail the pg rating this site strives to stay within

 

[WakBordr7387]

If it wasn't for the PG rating to keep it in, I would have already photochoped thier pics so bad, They would run crying to their mommy because were making fun of them, because thats just how bad they are


Brad

 

[Classix_Lover]

If it wasn't for the PG rating to keep it in, I would have already photochoped thier pics so bad, They would run crying to their mommy because were making fun of them, because thats just how bad they are


Brad

Lol I love how Jon put it as trying to keep people from using "blatant gay jokes" because that's what everyone thinks of whenever they even just glance at the pictures. I'm sure everyone is holding back realllyyyy badly from putting some good one's on there that would get sent to the dump faster than these guys can shed their clothes :thumbup:

 

[1Fast65Elky]

seriously tho, yea theyre pretty lucky jons a decent guy, i pmed him a link to mine because it was well .... placed in a homosexual-bar's pool with other half naked male party-goer's. They were havin a good ole fashin brokeback mountain pool party . yep lil oberboard. Cant say my quotes too much sexual enuendo... lucky them I got a good laugh I guess thats what matters. Probably kept me outta some trouble too heh heh. :thumbup: nasty.

 

[Jon]

Good morning everyone . Although it's actually "good night" for me, or at least it will be shortly.

A little bit more research....

"dodgy" is Stephen Andrews, a wealthy British chump.

He drove a Noble M400 on team 130 in the 2006 Gumball rally, as mentioned on the Gumball forums, where he posts as "dodgy": gumball rally list of participants. Here's a shot of one of his cars, that he posted at GTSpirit.com:

He has 189 posts on NobleForums.com. Here's a link to his post history: dodgy's post history on NobleForums.com . Those who are interested in the life and times of Stephen Andrews will find plenty of information on NobleForums.com.

Here's a post from NobleForums.com in which he says that he has "started a production company" and has "recently posted part one in a series of podcasts on gas monkey garage": post on NobleForums.com. Also, note this thread, in which he asks if any one of his fellow Noble Forum members have a contact at the Discovery Channel: anyone got a discovery channel contact?. Perhaps we should pre-emptively inform them of what he's doing, before we have to sit through an episode of "Pimp My Noble". Also, here's a link to a thread in which he's compiling a list of car "rallys" that he intends to attempt to enter: dodgy's upcoming rallys. We'll need to email those rally sites too.

It looks like he was sponsored by these guys: 1GRacing.com. I'll be adding them to my contact list.

I am looking for a photograph of Stephen Andrews, to include in one of my parodies. I believe I've also located his personal webpage, but it appears to be offline right now. However, Google has cached some pages from it, and there's always Archive.org. If someone locates a photograph, please let me know. The closest I've been able to find is the one below. Is that dodgy in the driver's seat, next to his Gumball 3000 "co-pilot", Playboy playmate Jessica Kramer?

Note the camera mounted over her right shoulder. That means that we should be able to find some dodgy cockpit videos to add to the parody pile. We also have a license plate on him, from another photograph. It's a personalized Texas plate that reads "2 DODGY". Once again folks, the word "dodgy" is an adjective (chiefly British) which means "evasive, tricky, and deceptive". Maybe the plate should say "2 IRONIC".

He also posts on Pistonheads.co.uk. Here's a link to his profile: dodgy's profile on Pistonheads.co.uk.

It's really fascinating to check out some of these forums on which he posts. They are the complete opposite of the culture here. Over-sponsored pimps and pawns for the high-end supercar industry. It's also cool to explore the depths of the chasm that separates automotive enthusiasts, and automotive marketers.


Still waiting on that genuine public apology from Richard Rawlings and Gas Monkey Garage...

 

[Jon]

 

[grouch]

Late to the party, as usual.

I couldn't resist tinkering with one of Jon's parody images, even though I was too lazy to create my own 'word balloons'.

(I wonder if the rust worked its way into some ~bad~ places?)

If these guys really want to be considered *bad*, let 'em grab a sandblaster while in those outfits and take a shot at that (allegedly) rusty relic they're polishing with their bad buns. Do they sell rust kits, too, kinda like those pre-torn jeans that sell for 4 times the price of good ones?

 

[grouch]

Awsome. If you can post the email addresses to the shows? :mwink: Maybe we can flood their email boxes. I'll be first in line.

Please don't. Spam is spam, and nobody likes it. Flooding email servers is just another form of denial of service. It's not a good protest or complaint mechanism.

 

[grouch]

imp: anyone promotion seen such blatant self promotion??http://www.chipfoose.com/ , http://www.boydshop.com/ , http://www.jimmyshine.com/ , http://www.so-calspeedshop.com/ , I'm certain someone can find something offensive in each one and cars they don't like!! The horse is dead, time to stop beating it. :spank:

There is a huge difference. How many carnival pitches by Foose, Boyd, etc. have you seen on Hotrodders.com? When visiting a website run by a marketer, for marketing, you expect to see marketing. When visiting a discussion forum with explicit rules prohibiting the interference with discussions by marketers, you should have an expectation of being able to carry on discussions without being bothered by unsolicited commercial messages.

 

[crazy larry]

well i'll be damned..... first time i've read this, i usually don't click if it doesn't interest me, but seeing robs post in the dump piqued my curiosity. .....

Jon has a set.... who knew?
go man go. :thumbup: you bad boy you. :evil:

 

[66GMC]

well i'll be damned..... first time i've read this, i usually don't click if it doesn't interest me, but seeing robs post in the dump piqued my curiosity. .....

Same here.

Hopefully this comment doesn't doesn't land this post in the dump, too. :mwink:

I don't know what chemicals (or whatever) are used to shrink heads, but I'm wondering if perhaps those two "bad boys" may have accidentally spilled some on thier "packages"???

Tip: Never wear a "banana hammock" after getting out of the pool, and NEVER have your picture taken in PROFILE.

Perhaps someone with better photo-editing skills could do one of those balloon parodies for me using this "shrinkage" theme for me?

Don