I had posted a blog about an advertisement on paintball as part of a campaign towards healthy lifestyle for youths- satu suara. A reader who also run a paintball venue commented on the advertisement :
call me sensitive but there is a little bit something wrong with the ad...players shud wear facemask when handling the marker to show the 'professionalism' of the sport or else there will be noobs following exactly what they are doing there - holding a marker without masks.
I agree with her. I learn from playing the sport that whenever a player is inside the playing area, masks must always be on and outside the playing area, barrel sock on. This is the top priority in safety precaution in paintball.
Tonight while watching Buletin Utama over TV3, again another careless advertisement about paintball was aired. The advertisement had appeared for some time already but only tonight I realise that something is not right about the advertisement. It showed three youth walking in public each carrying a paintball marker. A paintball marker can be mistaken by the general public as firearm due to its design. It is "illegal" for a paintball player to carry the marker that is not kept in its storage bag outside the playing area and the penalty for him/her is serious and will be dealt with severely by paintball competition/tournament organisers. Now, this advertisement project the three youth walking in public with their goggle fixed on their head and each freely carrying a paintball marker. It can be interpreted as a robbery or crime to be.
No doubt it is just an advertisement but it can be mistakenly taken by noobs that paintball marker can be carried freely. Apart of carrying openly (I think it is an offence) , the markers too are not covered with the barrel sock or barrel plug to prevent accidental shooting. Watch this....
I play paintball and as part of the sports fraternity, urge paintball clubs (maybe MAPAAC or My-NPL) and other related bodies to request the relevant authority to retract the advertisements and replace it with a "decent" one that follow rules and guideline of paintball sport. Surely we do not want the public and worse still the authority to have a negative perspective of the sport.
6 comments:
couldn't agree more. They should be more sensitive towards paintball safety issues and its impact when the rules are not followed.
I will try to snap the picture as it appear on tv next time.
apart from teamwork, paintball is also abt dicplin & safety is one of them. barrel socks & facemask is the mandatory safety procedures in paintball. in fact it's the very first thing mention to first-timers.
having youth carrying markers openly on the street, not to mention without barrels sock, would only give the wrong info regarding paintball to the mass. & yes, markers shouldn't be in full setup & has to be kept in its case when outside of field area.. not even in the parking lot...
someone should tell them abt this OR maybe paintballers should unite & make a petition to have that ad altered..
* hi there angel.. ;-)
haven't seen ur name in a while, cikgu... ;-)
tertinggal pulak...
cikgu, the paintball ad clip already uploaded at villains.. no need to wait in front of tv anymore lah.. ;-)
thanks badman for your visit and info.I agree that paintballerz should do something to project a good image of paintball sport before its too late.
Let us paintballerz write at Satu Suara Forum protesting this wrong information about paintball.
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