Why Aren't There Scuba Celebrities?

[Eric Sedletzky]

I think the original question was basically this:

Why don't Chatterton, Kohler, Sorenson, Skyles, JJ etc walk around looking like billboards for the highest bidders corporate brand?

I think the answer is that they do....but they also don't. The limiting factor is the return on investment from the advertising. The majority of those divers are diving tech, wreck, cave etc...and the target audience is pretty stubborn about gear selection.

The cool part about celebrity advertising is that the average consumer donkey will say " well he wears it so it must be the best". Tech divers will quickly figure out if a product has real applicability or if it is a cheap gimmick designed to lighten your pocket book.

I suppose there is some marketability in the very new/very nieve entry level diver scene, but it's not enough to justify the investment.

The other possibility is that a picture of Volker in a speedo and his favorite fins is not to appealing. I'm positive that pictures of young attractive people having fun in the same attire would be more marketable. The moral of this paragraph, 99% of high level notorious divers are geriatrics. If not literally, then close to it.

Dan, I had to bust your chops a little...no hard feelings.

It's probably .0000001% of the worlds population that even knows what they hell you're talking about...and us.
That's the whole point....diving...divers...what is that, who are they?

---------- Post added December 24th, 2014 at 07:57 PM ----------

Tech divers might not be using AIR 2 and other gimmicks, but they're just as susceptible to brand advertising and herd mentality as anyone else. Look at the thousands of divers wearing Fourth Element, despite it being made of the same exact materials as much cheaper generic winter undergarments, and Santi/DUI drysuits that are priced 2-3x as much as cheaper suits that will keep water out just the same. Or look at Halycon with its blue H tax for that matter. With tight-knight communities like GUE the peer pressure adds to it, and you see most divers wearing the same exact kit, regardless of if there are much cheaper products of same quality, simply because it's what their instructor/buddies are using.

How many GUE divers are there world wide do you think?
How do their numbers compare to PADI, SSI, SDI, NAUI?
How many TOTAL active certified divers are there world wide of any denomination? How does that number compare to the population world wide?

Do you think there are more Halcyon rigs out there than jacket BC's with Air2's?

Pretty insignificant really.

 

[Vegan Shark]

Do you think there are more Halcyon rigs out there than jacket BC's with Air2's?

Pretty insignificant really.

I was just arguing against the idea that tech-divers are immune to the "that's what person X wears, so I'm going to wear it too" advertising mentality, not saying that BPW are more common than jackets or anything of the sort. There's a reason companies like Fourth Element and Hollis sponsor the industry's big name tech divers; when you see someone you admire, like Jill, wearing Hollis regs, wing, rebreather, etc. it influences your perspective of the product, and you're more willing to shell out money for the brand name.

 

[tomfcrist]

Do you think there are more Halcyon rigs out there than jacket BC's with Air2's?

Pretty insignificant really.

I was just arguing against the idea that tech-divers are immune to the "that's what person X wears, so I'm going to wear it too" advertising mentality, not saying that BPW are more common than jackets or anything of the sort. There's a reason companies like Fourth Element and Hollis sponsor the industry's big name tech divers; when you see someone you admire, like Jill, wearing Hollis regs, wing, rebreather, etc. it influences your perspective of the product, and you're more willing to shell out money for the brand name.

I think you have a point to an extent. Most tech guys I know are more likely to stick with a bulletproof, less expensive product than they are to go out and buy whatever exact product Edd or Jill is wearing. The reality is that with the exception of lights and regs, all the products are pretty much interchangeable in the respect of function and design(side mount excluded). Some folks have to have the most expensive gear possible("Only the best"). Others are thrifty however won't sacrifice reliability.

 

[KevinNM]

I think the answer is that they do....but they also don't. The limiting factor is the return on investment from the advertising. The majority of those divers are diving tech, wreck, cave etc...and the target audience is pretty stubborn about gear selection.

Look at the top pistol shooters. They are fully sponsored, with free equipment, guns, ammo, and I think salaries. I'm not sure how easy it is to convince people to change gun brands either. However the real difference is that it is a real sport, with formal contests, prizes, TV coverage, etc.
Michelle Viscusi | Team | GLOCK USA
note that glock does a terrible job of updating their web site too.

 

[CT-Rich]

Might be interesting to have Ramsey do a show for a Lionfish derby, too.

Paunchy old men in drysuits aren't going to created new divers. Rihanna spending a day diving with an underwater photographer in Barbados and publishing it on the cover would have an effect. Taylor Swift diving Ft. Wetherill with her gal pals and being snapped coming out of the water would have an effect. Tiger Woods doing a cave dive on the discovery channel or ESPN would have an effect. You can buddy these people up with lions of diving (I'll be honest, no one will know who they are, not even me.....)

At the end of the day people pay Paris Hilton to go to parties so that the readers of US Magazine will give a crap about that hotel. Lady Gaga isn't creative director for Polaroid because she is an advertising genius. Because she is lady Gaga, they made her advertising director of Polaroid. If you want people to care about diving as a sport you need to find someone they care about to advocate for the sport. Robert Redford, with the movie Down Hill Racer (1969) and the Sundance Movie Festival, probably put more skiers on the slopes of Colorado than all the Olympians of the last 20 years.

Diving just needs to find a new Mike Nelson.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I was just arguing against the idea that tech-divers are immune to the "that's what person X wears, so I'm going to wear it too" advertising mentality

I don't know how long you've been around but I remember when DIR and Halcyon made an appearance out here on the west coast. Back then if you were DIR you used Halcyon period.

not saying that BPW are more common than jackets or anything of the sort.

I know they're not more popular, the whole reason for the comment was to illustrate that both are so miniscual in sales/popularity in comparison to many other sports and activities that it's kind of like arguing about which single grain of sand is bigger when there is an entire beach full of sand around it. I think the overall picture of scuba having no real exposure in the rest of the world is a little more important than worrying about tech gear, tech divers, and some supposed sponsorships etc. More people watch bowling and know those people before they'd know some tech diver.

There's a reason companies like Fourth Element and Hollis sponsor the industry's big name tech divers; when you see someone you admire, like Jill, wearing Hollis regs, wing, rebreather, etc. it influences your perspective of the product, and you're more willing to shell out money for the brand name.

What's Fourth Element? never heard of it
Who's Jill?
I know Hollis but I don't actually know anybody who uses it.
I know rebreathers are around but I've never seen one in action anywhere.
I've been doing this for 17 years and even have a few tech ratings myself but gave it up because it was too equipment intensive and too expensive, plus there was limited application where I dive.
Nobody cares about tech divers except maybe other tech divers.
They may be celebrities within their very small circle of followers but that's about it. What, a couple thousand maybe?

 

[clownfishsydney]

I doubt that in 20 years there will be more than a dozen or so celebrity divers. Back in the 1950s and 1960s there were dozens. Why the decline? Well, back then to shoot film underwater (or even dive underwater) and travel to exotic locations was a major logistic and cost event. Nowadays, every man and his dog can go to Chuuk, to the Red Sea, to Bali and to the Great Barrier Reef. The majority of divers seem to have a camera or video, so there is now no virtually market at all for films or documentary series based underwater. No market, means no money, so no celebrities.

There are many Australians who were considered celebrities back then, even overseas, Ron and Valerie Taylor (did great white filming for Jaws for example), Rodney Fox (survived GWS attack) and more.

 

[CT-Rich]

I doubt that in 20 years there will be more than a dozen or so celebrity divers. Back in the 1950s and 1960s there were dozens. Why the decline? Well, back then to shoot film underwater (or even dive underwater) and travel to exotic locations was a major logistic and cost event. Nowadays, every man and his dog can go to Chuuk, to the Red Sea, to Bali and to the Great Barrier Reef. The majority of divers seem to have a camera or video, so there is now no virtually market at all for films or documentary series based underwater. No market, means no money, so no celebrities.

There are many Australians who were considered celebrities back then, even overseas, Ron and Valerie Taylor (did great white filming for Jaws for example), Rodney Fox (survived GWS attack) and more.

you are basically right. A movie or TV show with a diving element getting center stage in popular culture will have more impact on diving than the next great cave diver. If you look at surfing, another ocean sport, it does have its own pro circuit, but it also has a steady trickle of surf related movies coming out over the years. Exotic locals, beautiful people, a little bit of danger. Dive movies virtually all look like a retread of the deep.... beautiful people treasure, modern day pirates... over and over again. I will say that girls look better coming out the ocean in a wetsuit carrying a surfboard than they do trudging up the beach with a tank, weights, hood and big red oval on their face.

Charlie's Angels and Bay Watch used to do scuba episodes. Cheryl Ladd in a bikini and scuba tank.... certainly make me want to get wet on a sunny beach more than Jonathan Bird or John Chatterton.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Might be interesting to have Ramsey do a show for a Lionfish derby, too.

Paunchy old men in drysuits aren't going to created new divers. Rihanna spending a day diving with an underwater photographer in Barbados and publishing it on the cover would have an effect. Taylor Swift diving Ft. Wetherill with her gal pals and being snapped coming out of the water would have an effect. Tiger Woods doing a cave dive on the discovery channel or ESPN would have an effect. You can buddy these people up with lions of diving (I'll be honest, no one will know who they are, not even me.....)

At the end of the day people pay Paris Hilton to go to parties so that the readers of US Magazine will give a crap about that hotel. Lady Gaga isn't creative director for Polaroid because she is an advertising genius. Because she is lady Gaga, they made her advertising director of Polaroid. If you want people to care about diving as a sport you need to find someone they care about to advocate for the sport. Robert Redford, with the movie Down Hill Racer (1969) and the Sundance Movie Festival, probably put more skiers on the slopes of Colorado than all the Olympians of the last 20 years.

Diving just needs to find a new Mike Nelson.

Don't forget the Swedish Bikini Team.

 

[DownDiver]

I'm surprised, unless I missed it, no one has mentioned the Fletchers. I always look at what equipment/configuration they're using on Sea Hunters or Dive Detectives. Earle, Chatterton, Kohler, are really the only others that come to mind; the dreamwreck divers I guess. I'm not aware of other shows that have featured diving as the main subject matter - seems like those few shows and books are the only thing that really make people visible leaders for the industry - with the exception of significant scientific leaders like Earle.