04-11-2020, 08:12 AM
We tend to be an older crowd on this forum. (I include myself amongst this crowd for what it's worth.) That said, I know that not each of us identifies with the exact same generation when it comes to our respective ages. Regardless of this, the generation that each of us does identify with certainly came before the generation that the R18 is being marketed towards. Our collective reaction to this motorcycle, or to be fair — towards the marketing of this motorcycle, should not come as a surprise to anyone here.
You can bet that when each and every one of us was younger there were products that were being marketed to us (be they motorcycles or something completely different) that received the same sort of reaction from members of those generations that ours. Our collective disgust is a byproduct of growing old and it's nothing new. I happen to embrace this as I always got a kick out of the old guys in my neighborhood when I was a kid, and by that I don't mean that I made fun of them. Now I'm actually that guy to some extent. I look at my disgust with the marketing for the R18 as living up to my role as an old guy. Sometimes holding wisdom can be painful
I personally could not take any more than 2 minutes of the first video before shutting it down, lol. Surprisingly (embarrassingly) I did make it past the point where the luckily chosen "host" noted that "I'm not going to lie to you guys" knowing full well that this was exactly what he was planning on doing. The impact that this particular video had on me came just short of the impact that food poisoning has on me (it's NOT good).
My wife and I have been together for 30 years now and from the very first year on I have been joking with her that I would someday become that guy who stood on his porch and yelled "you kids keep off of my lawn". While my lawn is nothing to be brag about and I don't care at all if the kids next door play in it, the truth is somewhere along the way I did become "that guy". I'm okay with that, after all it was what I told my wife that I would aspire to be someday. The thing is, I don't try to fool myself about this fact. I think this is why I got a kick out of the old guys I grew up around. The thing is, there were a few of those guys that would have me around and share their stories with me. As young as I was at the time, even I could understand that clearly these guys knew things that most others did not. Now here I am all these years later, disgusted by BMW's advertising approach, while also laughing just a little bit at myself because of my reaction to it.
I should add that the other part of me acknowledges the fact that I'm glad that there are still people buying new motorcycles in this day and age.
You can bet that when each and every one of us was younger there were products that were being marketed to us (be they motorcycles or something completely different) that received the same sort of reaction from members of those generations that ours. Our collective disgust is a byproduct of growing old and it's nothing new. I happen to embrace this as I always got a kick out of the old guys in my neighborhood when I was a kid, and by that I don't mean that I made fun of them. Now I'm actually that guy to some extent. I look at my disgust with the marketing for the R18 as living up to my role as an old guy. Sometimes holding wisdom can be painful
I personally could not take any more than 2 minutes of the first video before shutting it down, lol. Surprisingly (embarrassingly) I did make it past the point where the luckily chosen "host" noted that "I'm not going to lie to you guys" knowing full well that this was exactly what he was planning on doing. The impact that this particular video had on me came just short of the impact that food poisoning has on me (it's NOT good).
My wife and I have been together for 30 years now and from the very first year on I have been joking with her that I would someday become that guy who stood on his porch and yelled "you kids keep off of my lawn". While my lawn is nothing to be brag about and I don't care at all if the kids next door play in it, the truth is somewhere along the way I did become "that guy". I'm okay with that, after all it was what I told my wife that I would aspire to be someday. The thing is, I don't try to fool myself about this fact. I think this is why I got a kick out of the old guys I grew up around. The thing is, there were a few of those guys that would have me around and share their stories with me. As young as I was at the time, even I could understand that clearly these guys knew things that most others did not. Now here I am all these years later, disgusted by BMW's advertising approach, while also laughing just a little bit at myself because of my reaction to it.
I should add that the other part of me acknowledges the fact that I'm glad that there are still people buying new motorcycles in this day and age.