4 thoughts on “Red Bull Whistler Peak 2 Peak Base Jump”

1. I agree, that would have been way neater if it wasn’t sanctioned!

2. Hmmm…well I’m going to head up to Whistler tomorrow, maybe I can base jump from the Gondola and do a ‘real viral’ for my blog! (or perhaps I can just spray paint it)

   Hope u have a good holiday

3. I think the main reason that the second video did so well it that it fell into on of the one of the successful categories for viral videos “Make it shocking”. When the viewer sees the guys tag Airforce One it seems plausible but a bit shocking that that they could get away with it. Secondly Mark Ecko prefaced the stunt with this “I wanted to do something culturally significant, wanted to create a real pop-culture moment,” said Marc Ecko of Marc Ecko Enterprises. “It’s this completely irreverent, over-the-top thing that could really never happen: this five-dollar can of paint putting a pimple on this Goliath.” He is known as a maverick so maybe he could have done it there is a glimmer of believability. It also produced when President Bush approval rating was at an all time low and so there was a little bit of “Take that Mr. President” when an average viewer watched the vid so there was the second level of engagement. Secondly after the video was released the Military released this statement “We’re looking at it, too,” said Lt. Col. Bruce Alexander, a spokesman for the Air Mobility Command’s 89th Airlift Wing, which operates Air Force One. “It looks very real.” Wow maybe it is real the military said endorsed the event. The PR folks at Ecko must have fallen off of their seats with glee when that statement was released. The whole thing was textbook Blair Witch. People also want to believe that this happened and suspended disbelieve long enough to believe.

   The Whistler vid was just a big commercial from the get go. There was nothing shocking, exciting or otherwise about the vid. It was over produced and from a base jumping perspective it is a very safe jump.

   If I was pitching it I would have faked the whole thing on opening day.

   1. Hire people to fill the first two trams for the inaugural journey.
   2. Then about half way across stage that some guys popped the safety latches.
   3. Then have them jump from each car!
   4. Live news covers it and through twitter and other viral sources the news spreads within the hour across North America.
   5. The trams return to base.
   6. Big hype of what happened move the paid people out of the way of cameras for ‘Debriefing”.
   7. Make that local authorities ei RCMP are involved from the get go.
   1.5 Hours later catch the perps and then at the new conference let everyone know it was a stunt.
   8. Now get the interviews going in front of the Red Bull/Whistler branded interview wall.
   9. You will still get coverage on the six o clock news within the first thirty reporting it as “An amazing opening day stunt that shocked many and made it’s way across the Internet etc.”
   10. Then the 11 o clock news will repeat it in the final five minutes with some closing chuckles from the anchors.

   There would be very little impact to perceived safety issues of the gondola in end and the positive PR would far out weigh the negative. If it feels too produced there is a layer of “I am watching an ad. Why would I forward this to a friend?”

   Those are my thoughts on the matter.

   Cheers

   JP Holecka

4. I love your pitch JP. I was thinking exactly the same thing