Stampede Balloon Idiot: Should he benefit from his criminal PR stunt?

[CaberTosser]

I was in Cochrane Home Hardware a few days ago and saw a display of some cleaning products with a dumb Eco-bandwagon name. I recognized the name as it is what the business owner was trying to hype in his interviews after flying his lawn chair over the Stampede with a bunch of large balloons providing him lift a couple of years back. I thought it was an extremely irresponsible stunt then and I still do. I think a store that is selling the product line is essentially endorsing the stupid move, the product display even included images of balloons so he's still milking the PR.

I know some people thought it was hilarious, having been weaned on numerous seasons of Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera's juvenile antics. I fall into the other camp and will be letting Home Hardware know that doing business with convicted criminals who intentionally endanger air traffic detracts significantly from their wholesome corporate image.

[cdmc]

grumpy old man much? Nobody got hurt, it was a dangerous stunt granted but really? Kids got balls bigger than most.

[CaberTosser]

I'm plenty grumpy when its justified, and certainly it is in the case of this twit. An uncontrolled lawn chair (possibly with his noted oxygen bottle still strapped to it) in the main flight path to YYC? Only an idiot would endorse that.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by cdmc

grumpy old man much? Nobody got hurt, it was a dangerous stunt granted but really? Kids got balls bigger than most.

Yup and got his peeped smacked.


Now back to the VHS "grumpy Old Mem" a classic!

[Talking moose]

https://youtu.be/jmcJUpqi2WI

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by cdmc

grumpy old man much? Nobody got hurt, it was a dangerous stunt granted but really? Kids got balls bigger than most.

Notoriety is the ticket to fame and fortune these days. Can you say STUPID ? You one of those guys who fly drones around the airport ?

Grizz

[Kurt505]

Nothing like a free advertising bump.

There's no such thing as bad press, you probably just bumped sales 15%

[catnthehat]

I remember that stunt - stupid and a very dangerous plan to parachute into the stampede grounds .
As far as supporting him, no i wouldn't just because !
Cat

[waterninja]

Balloonitic flies over the cuckoo's nest. lol Young people do dumb things from time to time. He had his day in court and paid his debt to society. Let him get on with his life.
Whats the name of his eco cleaning product, and does it work well is the main question now?
As for profiting from this stunt, small potato's. Didn't a recent FBI director who leaked classified information just sign a 10 million dollar book deal?
Balloonatic should change the name of his product to ballonatic just for the free advertizing we are giving him on this thread.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Kurt505

Nothing like a free advertising bump.

There's no such thing as bad press, you probably just bumped sales 15%

I intentionally didn't mention the poorly named product line. Complaint letter has been sent to the store chain carrying the stuff.

From all of the photos of the fellow, he should seriously consider cutting back on his soy intake (or anything else with estrogen), dude has his own droopy balloons

So far as the 'paid his debt to society' part goes, I'd say he got off lightly. The court and policing costs were easily more than what he paid in fines. That and his apology to the judge was an outright lie.

[calgarychef]

Well I'm on the other side of the fence. What an epic badass ...stupid....fun...ignorant. Thing to do. He's paid a big fine for his stupidity so I say go ahead and reap the rewards. This is no different then the guys on the ******* movies making money off their antics.

[fallen1817]

What's the saying? All PR is good PR?

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

I intentionally didn't mention the poorly named product line. Complaint letter has been sent to the store chain carrying the stuff.

From all of the photos of the fellow, he should seriously consider cutting back on his soy intake (or anything else with estrogen), dude has his own droopy balloons

So far as the 'paid his debt to society' part goes, I'd say he got off lightly. The court and policing costs were easily more than what he paid in fines. That and his apology to the judge was an outright lie.

No offence Caber, but it sounds like you have something personal against him. Do you know him outside of the stupid stunt he pulled off? Seems like your going to a lot of trouble to cause this fellow grief.
I had never heard of him before this morning. I do however see hot air balloons in the sky from time to time, and lots of them are advertizing something.

[wags]

Stupid - and it worked obviously!

Cheers

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by waterninja

No offence Caber, but it sounds like you have something personal against him. Do you know him outside of the stupid stunt he pulled off? Seems like your going to a lot of trouble to cause this fellow grief.
I had never heard of him before this morning. I do however see hot air balloons in the sky from time to time, and lots of them are advertizing something.

Never met him, but I'd have to restrain myself from kicking him in the nuts if I did. I guess I just care more about aviation safety than the rest of everyone here. It's just another sign of the decline of society to me.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/...stampede-stunt

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Never met him, but I'd have to restrain myself from kicking him in the nuts if I did. I guess I just care more about aviation safety than the rest of everyone here. It's just another sign of the decline of society to me.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/...stampede-stunt

Well, I have to agree with you about how our society is rapidly sinking into a cesspool. I blame it on too much political correctness and a nanny govt. But what this guy did is just one stupid incident in an endless list of stupid incidents. I don't think he will ever try it again, and anyone else planning the same kind of stunt probably wouldn't after what happened to balloonatic. Holding a grudge will give you heartburn. lol

[wags]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Never met him, but I'd have to restrain myself from kicking him in the nuts if I did. I guess I just care more about aviation safety than the rest of everyone here. It's just another sign of the decline of society to me.

80/20 rule.

I'm concerned about aviation safety. How many guys in lawn chairs with a bunch of balloons attached fly each day? I'm not going to concern myself with one event that resulted in no aviation tragedy.

If this is a sign of the decline of society, I'd say you need a hug brother.

Cheers

[angery jonn]

I had not heard of this until now, how high was he flying?

[wags]

Originally Posted by angery jonn

I had not heard of this until now, how high was he flying?

From the article posted above:

"“It is unknown what height he achieved, but it has been estimated at 14,000 feet (more than four kilometres),” Fraser said."

[angery jonn]

Originally Posted by wags

From the article posted above:

"“It is unknown what height he achieved, but it has been estimated at 14,000 feet (more than four kilometres),” Fraser said."

Sorry didn't notice the article. Jebus that's up there, I can understand the issue people are having with his stunt.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

I intentionally didn't mention the poorly named product line. Complaint letter has been sent to the store chain carrying the stuff.

From all of the photos of the fellow, he should seriously consider cutting back on his soy intake (or anything else with estrogen), dude has his own droopy balloons

So far as the 'paid his debt to society' part goes, I'd say he got off lightly. The court and policing costs were easily more than what he paid in fines. That and his apology to the judge was an outright lie.

I'm with you on this, nothing but a two bit stunt from a two bit guy. Would never buy his product, just on principal. I'm also sure that there is a segment of society that is draw to crap like this, like flies to dung.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

I'm with you on this, nothing but a two bit stunt from a two bit guy. Would never buy his product, just on principal. I'm also sure that there is a segment of society that is draw to crap like this, like flies to dung.

I concur. Sad, isn't it?

[rena0040]

How much did it cost tax payers for police, fire and ems for this moron. Not to mention the flight that had to divert from landing because this idiot ended up in the landing flight path.

no advertising is free. Unless its in the ao buy and sell.

If the plane had hit him and caused it to malfunction and people were hurt or killed, how many would think he's still ultra cool?

[silverdoctor]

So, question. Nobody in here has ever done anything really stupid? Something that put others' at risk and you didn't think about it?

No hold my beer and watch this?

[Talking moose]

Hugs.

[Big Sky]

No matter how idiotic the act or statement, there will always be people who will jump in to defend it.

“(They) didn’t charge the Wright brothers,” Boria said, referring to the aviation pioneers who first took mankind to the air.

This guy can't be serious. How vain can you be?
I can see exactly how his flight compares to the Wright brothers. The future of balloon-strapped-to-lawnchair flight is bright. The possibilities are limitless.

“We planned the whole thing out really well … we knew what we were doing,” he said.

What a load of crap. He planned to land at the chuckwagon races but he ended up landing in a southeast Calgary industrial area. He had no way of controlling this contraption, hence missing his mark by a couple of km.

Boria said he and his team planned it so that only his own safety would be at risk

Apparently not. His entire flight was at the whims of the wind and air pressure. After he jumped out of the chair and parachuted to the ground, the balloons continued on their way. The balloons landed about 20 miles outside of Calgary. Who knows what they could have hit? His plan would best be described as a 'on a wing and a prayer'.

twice having planes fly under his homemade contraption

Again, zero control over his contraption. This guy thought only of himself, with zero concern for the safety of others.


I have no problem with people doing dumb stuff that puts their life in danger. (Except for the potential cost to the health care system.)
I do have issues with people doing dumb stuff that puts other people's lives in danger.

[Okotokian]

Caber, so are you prepared to banish or boycott anyone who has been charged and convicted of something? If so, let's not hear any more on here about the Donald. His companies and charities have been convicted on all sorts of counts.

So Balloon boy did something dumb and was charged and convicted, as he should have been. Don't we want people who do that to turn around their lives and make a success of themselves? He's not out pulling B&E's or pushing drugs.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by silverdoctor

So, question. Nobody in here has ever done anything really stupid? Something that put others' at risk and you didn't think about it?

No hold my beer and watch this?

There no issues when the only person at risk is the person performing the stunt, but when one endangers others that's the kicker for me. Chuckles is a fatty and as such he would make for quite a projectile landing on the midway, or on/ in the path of of a family SUV travelling down Blackfoot Trail, or punching through somebody's roof in Ramsey and landing in their (formerly) vegan soup pot. After abandoning his contraption what if it hit some main power transmission lines? (I'd be amused if he hit them while still in it, problem solved!). Of course we've already covered the YYC flight path angle.

From the outset it was intended as a PR stunt, in any interview of him after the stunt or his court date he's been pumping his brand like he was Ron Popeil. The ego on this dude is significantly overdeveloped and undeserved. He cost us taxpayers in court time & policing, and he figures that's all good so long as he got his PR.

Oko, my primary issue is the fact the guy still refers to the incident in his marketing materials, in fact it was right on the store display! He's PROUD of his idiocy, which proves his apology in court was completely insincere. To me the entire thing falls to the fact that any PR he garnered is essentially 'proceeds of crime'. If he ceases and desists on that advertising angle then of course he should go on and make an honest living. As a small businessman myself it ****es me off that so many other small business people work diligently day in and day out year after year to build themselves a good name, whereas this guy does something incredibly dumb that clearly endangered others in order to get his name out and some ethically-challenged people choose to congratulate him for it. Other business people are out sponsoring kids sports teams or perhaps are discounting work done for charities, or perhaps they are simply paying for advertising or they operate an ad campaign that is crime-free. Those are the kind of people one wants to do business with. Whether his products are any good or not is not really a consideration, my household will not be purchasing them on principle.

[silverdoctor]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

There no issues when the only person at risk is the person performing the stunt, but when one endangers others that's the kicker for me. Chuckles is a fatty and as such he would make for quite a projectile landing on the midway, or on/ in the path of of a family SUV travelling down Blackfoot Trail, or punching through somebody's roof in Ramsey and landing in their (formerly) vegan soup pot. After abandoning his contraption what if it hit some main power transmission lines? (I'd be amused if he hit them while still in it, problem solved!). Of course we've already covered the YYC flight path angle.

Have you never done anything totally stupid that put others' at risk - and you didn't stop to think about until it was all said and done?


If you haven't, then feel free to throw the first stone. You're a better man than I.

I'm not defending this fellow. But not everyone looks before they leap.