Slack Randoms: Viking Helmets, Social Media Gaffes, & More AI Pinkbike Comments

Jun 11, 2021
by James Smurthwaite  
Denmark's Viking helmet safety advert


What's a much better way to advertise to cyclists? Vikings, of course. Denmark has a huge cycling culture and to encourage more riders to wear a helmet the Danish Road Safety Council has issued this hilarious PSA.






Toyota USA's Instagram page has responded after it received a barrage of trolling for posting two pictures of a mountain biker who looked less than ready to properly hit the trails. The original posts, from May 31, showed a rider on a Walmart-style hardtail with reflectors, v brakes and, possibly worst of all, a kickstand.

It was pretty clear that someone at Toyota USA's agency hadn't done their research. While mountain bikers are a lucrative demographic, we're also notoriously particular. The post soon became a social media pile-on with roasts coming from across the mountain bike industry alongside a fair few comments from shameless influencers thirsty for a Toyota brand endorsement. Rather than delete the photo, Toyota responded Tuesday with a trio of new posts, this time with proper mountain bikes and what looks to be proper mountain bikers too.


This time the rider is on a Yeti bike with clipless shoes on and you can actually see the bike being ridden (slightly) off road too. While the ankle socks and sweat shorts may not pass the MTB snob fashion test, the "Look mom, no kickstand" captions shows at least Toyota is aware of its gaffe.

Did we all get played?

Putting on our tinfoil hats, we wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing was a ploy to ruffle some feathers. After all, the posts have appeared on many cycling news websites and the five posts seem to have the most engagement of any Toyota USA posts all year. Their ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi are some of the best at what they do, and rarely do they do things by accident.

Whatever the case, you have to say fair play to Toyota for rolling with the punches and taking the trolling on the chin. Hopefully this will be a lesson to all brands that if you want to market to mountain bikers, you need to work with mountain bikers.

Pinkbike s Toyota shuttle rig.
Putting our hat in the ring.
Pinkbike s Toyota shuttle rig.
Jason Lucas, so aspirational.

To be fair, Toyota Pacific is a partner of Pinkbike's and we are big fans of their trucks.





A Kickstarter for a kit that only fast riders could wear has been cancelled

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Road Cycling Apparel brand Go Faster has cancelled a Kickstart after it received backlash for its product.

The kit was pretty standard apparel but the brand would only sell it to you if you could prove you could cycle at a certain speed. Two kits were available, one for riders who could average more than 26km/h (16mph) and one for riders who could average more than 39km/h (24mph). The rides had to be proven using Strava and the speed had to be maintained over a 10km distance.

The idea was that riders would be proud to show off their kit as it was earned, and would be less likely to throw it away, therefore increasing its sustainability.

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The brand was hoping to raise £10,000 through a Kickstarter that offered kits discounted from the £115 RRP. However, the brand has since pulled down its crowdfunding effort and said:

"We’ve received many messages over the last 24 hours from the cycling community, both in support of and opposed to our Kickstarter concept. Our idea was to offer performance-minded cyclists the chance to challenge themselves to improve and reward their effort with a standout jersey. But we’ve learned that the wider cycling community does not support our approach. And this is no way to start a new cycling brand.

“We decided the best thing to do was to close the fundraising campaign and rethink our approach. We are grateful to our supporters, testers and partners for all their support on our journey.”

More info, here.





More AI generated Pinkbike comments

We're still loving @charliewentoutside's bot's AI generated comments. Here are some of the best since our last article:

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Author Info:
jamessmurthwaite avatar

Member since Nov 14, 2018
1,770 articles

75 Comments
  • 88 3
 (Nerd alert) This is ad is likely something I am hearing referred to lately as “Positive agitation or Algorithm hacking”; it’s essentially where you advertise something that includes some wonky element that will cause folks to interact heavily with the content post. The high level of interaction results in a higher rank for the post and is then given more exposure to users on the platform; ie the whack mountain bike will be a cause for folks to share (like we did here), comment, and save - all while you get to see the vehicle and all while instagram decides to show this to even more people - so it’s a cheat and a win for Toyota.
  • 43 2
 Super clever tactic. How over the top the DH kit was compared to what you usually see makes it seem like it probably was intentional. To learn more about this marketing strategy works this video goes into some great detail. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
  • 12 0
 Yep, it's totally using the AI to your advantage and becoming more popular. C'mon people, Toyota didn't just happen to have those other photos "laying around" and ready to post the minute they received the hate. Also Toyota is well versed in marketing to mountain bikers, and have been doing it very successfully for years... they didn't just forget what a mountain biker looks like, haha.
  • 7 0
 Clever as hell, savvy on the part of S&S, and still borderline evil. "Look how we hack your eyeballs and minds!"
  • 12 3
 @friendlyfoe: f*ck. YOU. LMAO
  • 5 1
 @friendlyfoe: You linked to a monetized version so I got an ad first. I was able to get out before the rolling started.
  • 39 2
 It’s still a fairly accurate depiction of everyone I’ve seen at the trailhead who drives a TRD 4Runner.
  • 2 0
 @islandforlife: Good to know for next time! lmao.
  • 4 1
 Maybe they got some help from their sponsored media agency, Pinkbike, when crafting the message…
  • 6 0
 @friendlyfoe: Very informative video, im happy i clicked on it so fast!
  • 1 0
 Thanks Ben! (Homie who sent this take on the ad my way)
  • 5 5
 I wonder why new riders don't feel welcome in the sport... Not proud that this attribute is true of the community.
  • 1 4
 Despite their IG Al Gore Rhythm hacking, I still can't afford their 4 Grocery Runner. Wish they would just hack my bank account, add money and make me a Fortuner.
  • 3 0
 Damn it! Do you think I can return the 2 4runners I just bought?
  • 3 0
 @rcrocha: It's one of the only body on frame mid sized vehicles that is still produced! So sick of unibody SUVs.
  • 1 0
 now pinkbike is doing that because its a full suspension not a hardtail
  • 1 1
 @friendlyfoe: !!!!!!!! rickroll alert !!!!!!!!
  • 1 0
 @SangamonTaylor: I love how some people are offended by the notion that there is a fair chunk of riders who are elitist and unwelcoming.

Then today Intense announces a new brand because they don't want a sub $4k price point diluting the Intense brand equity. Which pretty much proves the consumer mindset Toyota was playing on.
  • 47 0
 "Send your bike to the dentist for a checkup" is absolute gold!
  • 16 1
 Pinkbike, pretty please do an AI review, and pretty please toss in some AI comments. I will do anything. DM me.
  • 10 0
 He's working on it!
  • 7 0
 PB: "First look"
AI: "Full review next post"
  • 1 0
 @brianpark: Were you aware you are the best person? Just thought I'd say it.
  • 14 2
 Love my 4Runner. Kudos to Toyota for just leaving the original posts up and being able to laugh at themselves with follow up pics.
  • 25 0
 their marketing department is laughing all the way to the bank with their bonuses.
  • 10 0
 The more I think about it the more I think Toyota purposely posted with the Walmart bike.
  • 3 0
 @brandaneisma: They absolutely did. I feel kind of dumb for not calling BS on this as I usually have a pretty good BS detector!! They likely had the follow up posts written before they even posted the original. Very clever and very sneaky. Gotta hand it to them.
  • 1 0
 Agree - the more I think about it the more i think it was purposeful. At first I assumed someone made a mistake but thinking it through, you'd really have to try to come up with the combo they did. If someone was genuinely unsure what to do, they'd have just gone to a bike shop. I don't know the first thing about skiing, but if I was tasked with putting something like this together, I wouldn't use skis I got at Wal-Mart. (After spray-paining them black . . .)
  • 18 5
 Waki makes an appearance!
  • 3 0
 Definitely a funny throwback watching him getting roasted again
  • 12 0
 I was all excited for a Fezzari/Toyota collab when I first saw that pic.
  • 9 0
 That viking helmet video had me in fits!
  • 1 0
 Was very funny!
  • 2 0
 You guys should watch NORSEMEN on netflix, very similar vibes.
  • 7 0
 Are you sure that's a bot? Most of those comments seem pretty standard for the PB comments section.
  • 6 0
 I'm honestly surprised the peanut gallery had no comment on the bike rack they showed in the picture.
  • 7 0
 I was kind of questioning the Yeti riders short choice..
  • 7 1
 Did Arnold Schwarzenegger hijack the AI for that first comment?
  • 2 2
 underrated comment
  • 6 0
 AI commenter has really stepped his game up. So proud :')
  • 4 1
 Thanks for fixing that Toyota, but I’m not dropping the money for a new 4RUNNER. However, I will keep rocking my 2006 Tacoma until the wheels fall off.
  • 3 0
 Honestly don't understand the hate with the jersey? How is this that much different from any other trophy/medal/ribbon/tshirt that you get at any race?
  • 3 0
 This dansk ad about helmets is just perfect. Pure scandinavian humor. I love it. Well done! SKØL!!!
  • 3 0
 the pinkbike AI commenter is probably the best thing to ever happen to mountain biking
  • 6 3
 Dang, even AI knows that WAKI was always wrong. I kinda miss the guy...
  • 2 2
 Ducking for cover. I fear the day this bot complains that my comments are way too long.

TL;DR: random comment
  • 1 2
 @vinay: you give yourself way too much importance
  • 3 1
 That is a good advert haha Also, the daft Go Faster crowd funding idea....muppets.
  • 3 0
 This Monty Python style ad is great!
  • 2 1
 I started on a bike like the one in the Toyota ad. I hope everyone poking fun doesn't actually poke fun of people riding on cheap gear
  • 1 3
 Since when are Yeti bikes cheap? Wink
  • 1 0
 yeah but I doubt you also had a current-year 4x4 in the most expensive trim package when you started biking on that bike. (FYI, i started on a POS too.)
  • 2 0
 @gtill9000: haha no I was 10 years old
  • 4 3
 Almost anybody can average 26 km/h, almost nobody can average 39 km/h. What a stupid idea.
  • 6 6
 On a road bike that 40kph isn't that hard, if you are trying to race. I never timed myself on a short distance like 10k but I first did a sub 30 minute 20k time trial when I was 15 years old.... Long long ago. Going 40kph in a pack on the road for 10k is really easy with any training at all.
  • 1 4
 Says a guy who hasn’t ever held an elite road license.
  • 2 4
 @insertfunusername: says a guy who’s never held an elite road license.

The only issue with this marketing is that folks who can ride this fast get (or buy) their kit from their club/team.
  • 1 0
 @wyorider: I only ever got to Cat2, but that was back in the USCF days.
  • 3 1
 plenty of roadies can average 39 km/h. especially with aero gear. the idea to have to do this to qualify to buy a product with your own money is ludicrous though.

i've covered 48 km in an hour while sitting in on a week night race on a short course, with 75 or so racers to draft. certainly we weren't all special.
  • 3 5
 Car companies have never marketed well to any outdoor demographic. The fratbros who infest marketing agencies aren’t striving to depict authenticity in any way, they’re selling cars to people who don’t do outdoors stuff. These images are all about some suburban dweeb THINKING they’re rugged because they bought a Tacoma or a 4Runner.

I’m amused this one instance of indifferent marketing triggered so many riders, and that those riders think it matters at all.
  • 7 0
 Let me introduce you to the brand Subaru
  • 1 0
 @sjma: actually, all brands do this. At least Subaru and Toyota stuff if pretty reliable.
  • 3 0
 I think it was a troll and they knew what they were doing. If they were really just being lazy, they'd have gone to a bike shop and ended up with an actual MTB. They had to try to do this.
  • 1 0
 That AI is spooky, the Grim Donut comment is exactly what I was thinking for a big chunk of last year
  • 3 4
 Pinkbike AI is much funnier than Henry Quinney
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