Thoughtful Driving Ad

David9694 wrote:

This has been going on for some time - look up Playing in the Road (1947) on YouTube - brought to you by the Petroleum Films Bureau.

The PR was in overdrive long before that (sorry, repeated use of this link but it's a goodie).

ktache wrote:

Talking of adverts, and I know it's no longer on, but how did they manage to find so many horses that weren't shit scared of bicycles to run with the cyclist in the Lloyds Bank advert?

Friesans, famously unflappable. Used (amongst other breeds) by the Household Cavalry, I've often ridden quite close to them on the Mall or on South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park (when waved through by the commanding officer or accompanying police riders, never without permission) and never seen them spook once.

I had just assumed that they weren't running with the cyclist - that they were CG or that it had all been put together post-production

There's a "making of" video online; while I'm sure they used plenty of camera trickery there are also a number of shots with the horses and cyclist riding along together, the horses running between tapes which were presumably Photoshopped (or whatever the video equivalent is) out later.

Thanks. Having watched that, I'm more surprised the horses weren't spooked by the buzzing drone cameras. 

I doubt they'd be so happy with some of the Edinburgh laid-back crew...

We're all tangled up.

It's a lot from a few of "them" but also all those tiny contributions (conscious, inadvertent, doesn't matter) of the many of "us".  And they're organised (being organisations) whereas "everyone" isn't.

We could definitely do more - but the more change the (much) harder it is to sell.

Although quite a few people say they'd like to "go and live atop some moor" very few of us have the acceptance of change, compromise or the energy to seriously detach from the system ([1] [2] [3]).  (And sometimes the system will come and drag you back! [4] [5]).

As for the companies it's likely that those at such companies are much more strongly motivated to keep going and growing than almost any other group is to clip their wings.  Except perhaps other oil companies - when it's not more in their interest to cooperate / form cartels.

hawkinspeter wrote:

The oil companies are trying to fool people into thinking that they're not our enemies despite their decades of sabotaging environmental science and debate.

At some point we're going to have to choose between our survivial and the oil companies' survival and they're desperately trying to push that point into the future. It's the kicking the can down the road method of not actually addressing the issues.

Close the oil companies down now, and you'll be back living in a tent and with no resources or much else for that matter. In other words, both will perish. 

The_Tory wrote:

Close the oil companies down now, and you'll be back living in a tent and with no resources or much else for that matter. In other words, both will perish. 

So, don't close down the oil companies and soon enough there won't be sufficient usable land to be able live in a tent and certainly no consistent way of growing food crops without guarded greenhouses. Not that a tent without air conditioning will be able to support human life in about a third of the world. Obviously we need to put our possessions at a much higher priority than people's lives around the world.

If it's essential to keep the pumps going for a while longer, then that should be under the control of elected representatives that have humanity's future as a priority rather than under the control of greedy little businessmen that only care about the profits this quarter.

hawkinspeter wrote:

... If it's essential to keep the pumps going for a while longer, then that should be under the control of elected representatives that have humanity's future as a priority rather than under the control of greedy little businessmen that only care about the profits this quarter.

Decoupling issue?

Human lifeforms have repeatedly found ways to go beyond (e.g. Malthusian) feedback limits.  We are currently in another growth phase having found new ways to exploit more resources faster (and produce more humans and sustain them for longer).

The Long Now folks may in some ways be a symptom / part of the problem ("let's think our way out / possibly solve it with better tech").  However they do a good job of presenting the issue of decoupling of timescales (see "mission").  That is with our current powers the length of time we need to look ahead* is inconveniently long and doesn't couple well to human feedback cycles.  Human lives are not that long (although we do much better than we've been naturally optimised for - another issue!).  And certainly - most companies / political systems etc. operate on a much shorter timescale so worrying about longer ones is difficult.

We've also shortened "news cycles" and coupled "tech" more closely to the speed of "fashion".

Same goes for how effects by individual humans are now much more than a local issue.  That's not just because of things like "flying", "mass transport" and "internet" but also just cumulative numbers.  Lots of people burning more stuff for more energy than our fewer ancestors used - albeit doing so much more efficiently?  Now we have a problem.

* That is - if we wish to "manage" our future.  Or even feel this isn't a fool's errand as "there's no-one in control".

hawkinspeter wrote:

The oil companies are trying to fool people into thinking that they're not our enemies despite their decades of sabotaging environmental science and debate.

At some point we're going to have to choose between our survivial and the oil companies' survival and they're desperately trying to push that point into the future. It's the kicking the can down the road method of not actually addressing the issues.

Yes, all of this, 100%.

...Lovely advert though to be fair.

The 'honk' was the only reference that you might have to share the road with drivers. Not a single moving vehicle visible in the entire video - very reminiscent of a car advert, carefree empty roads etc...

They had the helmet angle covered, but no high vis and riding at dusk without lights! 

Also - why such a ropey looking old bike and a lethal looking kiddie seat that you could quite easily slip off the back of! Not even anything solid for the kid to hold on to! Scream if you want to go faster?!

Can't find the same kid seat on the internet, but this one is similar and looks to be well engineered and safe...

https://www.urbaniki.com/en-gb/child-bike-seats/folding-bike-child-seat/

That bike is screaming for one of them old skool top tube mount kiddies seats