anyone besides me wonder this

[Andrew the RC man]

why is it that cheapy companys like tyco and nikko have always had commercial ever since they got a little bit big and big companys like losi and traxxas etc. dont have commercials? the business' would expand so much. also it would make racing even in small towns fun.

PS: why doesnt RC car action do commercials? they could make RC business boom

it just doesnt make sense why none of these companies do commercials that are National

[SteveP]

Wait! Lemme call the network and put a 1 minute ad on TV during the Super Bowl for 2.5 million dollars a minute! http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/tongue.gif

Seriously, TV advertising is EXTREMELY expensive. Even on a normal day during peak viewing times costs somewhere in the hood of 200,000 a minute.

[Andrew the RC man]

o hahaha.

yes i know it is expensive but r u sure it is around 200,000 a minute? i mean dang that is hella.

[TUCRACEMAN]

Cheapy companies make commercials because they have money up the waaazoo.

[Oyster]

Ad's are very spendy, that's for sure. Where I live, there's about 100,000 people in the county. Maybe 50,000 in the city. Small market. I asked about radio ad's once for my business. $900+ for a week of "lunch time" ad's. Yikes! I can only imagine what it'd cost for video production, plus tv time...

Also, a lot of these companies (Losi AE) can't afford to advertise like that, but more so couldn't fill the demand of the market. They are not HUGE companies. You throw 2 million in ad's on nationwide TV, and the demand is going to go thru the roof. It's coming though... RC is getting bigger.

Fact: RC made a BOOM this year. The bigger toy companys, (Tyco NIKKO) made good money on RC. It's getting more affordable to get into a fun car. (Note the big RTR craze..) RC is headed in a good direction.

Now now, before some of you think "Oh no Tyco takeover!" picture this...

Young kid, driving his Tyco, which he/she thinks is fast as all get out, and then comes the kid up the street with an RC10B3, this RC10 is sticking to the ground, throwing a roostertail of dirt, and hauling ***! Another RC racer is born, and the Tyco begins to collect dust.

[atm92484]

Think about this: would the companies be making a profit if they advertise? I seriously doubt it. Think about how much even an entry level car is these days. When I tell most people how much I spend on my cars and planes they think I'm nuts; 400, 500, 600, 700 dollars for what they would consider a toy.

When I tell people $250 for a car is dirt cheap they almost start laughing. Seriously, how many people will be willing to spend even $250 on a car? If they see what they get then maybe, but they would be getting almost nothing on that $250 entry level car.

Remember all those Tyco comercials where they'd show the cars flying down the road and going off jumps. They looked sweet. Then when you got the car it was a piece of junk. It went 10 mph and you were lucky to get a foot of air. Then you'd break the car and it would be ruined. People would see the RC comercials and think "omg another hyped up car, and how much did they say for that again?" It would be better if people could actually see the cars in real life. Then they'd see what they were getting for their money.

This is just my opinion on the matter. Sorry for talking your ear off.

[This message has been edited by atm92484 (edited 01-28-2001).]

[RCJunkie]

It all comes down to cash. You've got to stop and think that Tyco is into a lot more than RC. Large toy manufacturers have tons of cash to blow on advertising because they don't put money into making a quality product. Same deal with Nikko. They make all types of electronic equipment like stereos etc. They're not just RC.

[DJ BlendeR]

How about not advertising to a broad spectrum of people. Rather, advertise on Speedvision or channels of that sort. For those of you who dont know what Speedvision is, its a channel devoted to auto, boat, motorcycle and jet ski racing. It also throws in shows about Aircraft and boat/motorcycle/auto maintenance. However they cover some major races, ie 24 of Le Mans, Petit Lemans circuit, Paris Dekar Paris, and alot of smaller races. If they advertise during some of these, even just a few commercials they would bring in people who already like cars or vehicles for that matter, and I would think it could be fit in their budget, so long as they dont do a billion and one commercials. I'd love to see more people in the industry, then maybe we could finally get some more leagues started, rally cars and 4wd trucks. They might have them where you are, but it looks doubtful from what I've seen here. Thats just my 2 cents.

[Destrega]

Here is a fact RC Car Action alone has introduced thousands maybe millions of people
to the rc hobby (me being one of them).
So all we have to do is get more people to buy rc car action right?

[driller]

I think all the r/c manufactures should pitch in and make an all in commercial that would be benificial for all it would help difercify the market and that means big bucks for all of them

[tadium54]

driller and Destrega, you guys said it all. When was the last time you heard/saw(with the exception of Duratrax)a commercial for a good quality R/C or gear.
I know they are rivals, but the manuf. have to pitch in to put together a video or a commecial to get people started.

[PeterV]

RCTV, publicity-generating events like Cliff's speed run, and television spots that are made available to hobby shops to run in their local cable markets are all good things. But the single best way for RC to get exposure at ZERO cost is for all of us to 1. run our cars where people can see them, and 2. help those people with their questions politely, and steer them towards the local hobby shop (and if you're one of those "these aren't toys, too expensive for you, I work on my car 40 hours a week, you should have 10 years of experience before you try a gas-car" guys, then don't bother "helping", thank you! http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/smile.gif

It would also be great if more of the big RC events could be held in public places; in this regard, Hobby People deserves credit for their Expo series, which does a good job of introducing the hobby to new people.

As for you track operators out there...how about these ideas? Air your mains on the local cable access channel--they'll even provide the camera gear! Get the photographer from the local paper over to the track--they love human-interest stuff. Offer to put on an RC stunt show at the local elementary school (right before Christmas, of course!).

If we all act as spokespeople for the hobby, it'll only grow faster.

[LatexMantus]

Peter is right. When I was younger no one had r/c cars, and most had no real idea what they were like. I loved anything to do with electronics, so I had to get one. I had a Blackfoot (we are talking way back), and when most of my friends saw it, they wanted one too. So it has always seemed to me that people get into r/cing when they see them in action. What is the point of having an r/c car if no one else around has one. The real fun of r/cing is doing it with others. So I think companies need to do more public events and I think a north american tour would be a good idea. Let communities that may not see them normally get a chance to check them out.

[R_C_MAN]

The toy car companies like Tyco, Nikko, and Tamiya lol http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/smile.gif have their cars at toy stores all over. Hobby class kits are available mostly through hobby shops and mail order. This puts the toy cars out to more people.
Plus Tyco makes other kinds of toys to get profits.