Grand National advert

[Cork All Star]

I went to see a film at the Home Cinema and Arts Centre in Manchester today. I don’t think I am being unreasonable to say it generally has a bit of a Guardian sort of vibe.

When the adverts before the film began, I was pleasantly surprised when the first advert was about tickets for the Grand National meeting at Aintree.

Now I know Aintree is not far away but I would have thought the crowd there were more likely to be well disposed towards the animal rights and anti-gambling lobby than they are towards National Hunt racing.

I didn’t hear any booing or sounds of disapproval but I would be slightly surprised if it resulted in any additional ticket sales!

Fair play to Aintree for trying though. And to Home for showing the advert.

[peter .h]

That’s interesting to know. I haven’t seen any ads myself, so may I ask what the advert contained? Was it an introductory ad that gave new viewers an idea of what the race is about or did it skirt away from footage beyond winning celebrations?

[Cork All Star]

Here it is:

[peter .h]

As suspected; not much in the way of footage of the Grand National itself.

I’m not sure how this will entice people to watch (nevermind go to) the race. Whether people want to admit it or not; it’s the sense of peril that attracts those who aren’t already racing viewers to see what happens in the Grand National. The idea that anything can happen. You need to see it to believe it. So on, so forth.

Telling the general public they can dress nice isn’t going to get them through the gates for the extortionate price it costs for the privilege. Nor will it grab the imagination of youngsters who we are pinning our hopes on getting involved in the sport in future years.

The mystique may be lost on purists or whatever, but it isn’t lost on the public. So why not use it?

[runandskip84]

Thing is though,the peril and uncertainty has been taken away from the race so there’s nothing to show hench ITVs viewing figures are half those of CH4.the race now resembles the old fixed brush stayers handicap hurdle at Haydock.
The fact they are advertising shows it’s not just Cheltenham struggling with ticket sales

[moehat]

People have always liked an excuse to dress up. It’s one of the few occasions in which you can wear the expensive outfit you bought for someone’s wedding. If racing depended totally on the purists it wouldn’t last long.

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