How often do we say "we need a celebrity" to promote scuba?

[RJP]

I think there may be a group of celebrities that like to scuba dive...on their own as a leisure activity and stress reliever...

Sort of like the vast majority of people with c-cards, huh?

We here on ScubaBoard are "divers" and we assume that anyone who's ever had a reg in their mouth is - or should be - a "diver" too. But most c-card holders are simply "people who like to go diving."

For someone who "Is a Diver" the sport defines them: "Diver = Who I am"
For someone who "Goes Diving" the sport doesn't define them anymore than going to the grocery store does: "Diving = Something I Do"

Two very different things. The industry doesn't get it.

 

[Z Gear]

I've never cared what celebrities were doing or endorsing.

However, I'm sure if there were a "reality show" featuring drama queens living together and going diving.
I'm sure the lemmings would latch onto it.

I hear ya. I don't really mean divers who already dive would be impacted by anything to do with celebreties. Merely those in society who no nothing of scuba. Some like doing or buying what celebrities do. It is a natural tendency in today's society.

As far the reality show. This another example of something that captured peoples attention and is popular today. It is another form of exposure that can easily promote scuba diving.

 

[RJP]

I hear ya. I don't really mean divers who already dive would be impacted by anything to do with celebreties. Merely those in society who no nothing of scuba. Some like doing or buying what celebrities do. It is a natural tendency in today's society.

As far the reality show. This another example of something that captured peoples attention and is popular today. It is another form of exposure that can easily promote scuba diving.

What do you think a dive reality show will need to feature prominently to be attractive to viewers? Danger, risk, drama, oh yeah... and sex.

Every commercial break will be proceeded by someone going OOA, getting shot with a speargun, or stealing someone else's boyfriend/girlfriend. A reality TV show about diving will either do one of two things:

1. Feature enough danger and drama to be interesting... and in doing so scare more people away from diving than it attracts
2. Accurately represent diving... and in doing so become the first show in the history of television to actually be cancelled in the middle of an episode

Unless you think a good ol' fashioned "PADI vs NAUI" dust-up is sufficient drama to keep people glued to their sets.

 

[ams511]

What do you think a dive reality show will need to feature prominently to be attractive to viewers? Danger, risk, drama, oh yeah... and sex.

Every commercial break will be proceeded by someone going OOA, getting shot with a speargun, or stealing someone else's boyfriend/girlfriend. A reality TV show about diving will either do one of two things:

1. Feature enough danger and drama to be interesting... and in doing so scare more people away from diving than it attracts
2. Accurately represent diving... and in doing so become the first show in the history of television to actually be cancelled in the middle of an episode

Unless you think a good ol' fashioned "PADI vs NAUI" dust-up is sufficient drama to keep people glued to their sets.

What was the movie where the guy is on his honeymoon and his new wife has sex with her dive/snorkel instructor? You have the basis of a reality show here.

As a diver I found open water boring and never finished the movie.

 

[mselenaous]

Along Came Polly. Scuba Claude

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I would love to see a modern day scuba adventure show on TV. The only problem is they would probably butcher it so bad with hokey gear, hokey protocols, hokey sequences, nothing would be true to how it really is, and they would probably lose most of the real divers because it would be such an insult to their intelligence. The public that doesn't dive that watches the show would get a very warped view of what scuba really is.
I don't mean to be cynical but everybody knows how bad Hollywood can F things up for effect. Just look at cop shows.

---------- Post added April 2nd, 2015 at 09:10 PM ----------

For someone who "Is a Diver" the sport defines them: "Diver = Who I am"
For someone who "Goes Diving" the sport doesn't define them anymore than going to the grocery store does: "Diving = Something I Do"

Two very different things. The industry doesn't get it.

Well, we can thank the "industry" (whoever they are?) for pushing to jamb as many people through C card processing plants (OW cattle drives) and creating instructor mills to make sure there's plenty of opportunity and places to get certified + glut the market and bring prices down. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but it's easier for someone to get certified now than it is for them to go buy a pair of sneakers and run a half marathon...just saying.
My question is (to the industry), since they made it so easy then why aren't people stampeding in hoards to their LDS and breaking the door down to get certified if "anybody can do it"?

 

[ams511]

My question is (to the industry), since they made it so easy then why aren't people stampeding in hoards to their LDS and breaking the door down to get certified if "anybody can do it"?

I haven't seen a scuba magazine for years so hopefully they changed. But from what I remember they basically became travel magazines and neglect US diving opportunities, except for a article here and there. So you have a person that picks up a dive mag and gets the impression they need to fly to Palau or the Maldives for good diving.

 

[RJP]

and they would probably lose most of the real divers because it would be such an insult to their intelligence.

Divers make up less than 1% of the population. You don't have to worry about anyone worrying about what we think about a TV show one way or the other.

---------- Post added April 2nd, 2015 at 10:51 PM ----------

My question is (to the industry), since they made it so easy then why aren't people stampeding in hoards to their LDS and breaking the door down to get certified if "anybody can do it"?

As I've been saying for several years... it's not a "pricing" problem. It's a "demand" problem. If someone doesn't want to dive... lowering the price or the hurdles or any other barrier is meaningless.

I don't like salmon.

• You can lower the price
• You can prepare it twenty different ways
• You can deliver it to my house
• You can have a Hawaiian tropic bikini model feed it to me on a platinum fork
• I'm not going to eat it
• Why?

I don't like salmon.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I don't like salmon.

• You can lower the price
• You can prepare it twenty different ways
• You can deliver it to my house
• You can have a Hawaiian tropic bikini model feed it to me on a platinum fork
• I'm not going to eat it
• Why?

I don't like salmon.

The difference here is many people don't know they would or wouldn't like diving because they've never tried it, or it never even occurred to them to try it.
Perhaps if there was just some scrap of footage somewhere showing some diving they might think "I'd like to try that someday".

 

[Nemrod]

I hope and wish never.

N