Recently American Express approached Falcon Motorcycles and asked them to be part of their new national “Start Booming” campaign, featuring real and inspiring small business owners that are “Booming” in part because they have uncovered new and better ways to drive their companies forward, even as this economic environment continues to challenge many of them.
Falcon Motorcycles In American Express Commercial
Published by July 19th, 2010 in Builders, Customs, Editorial and Videos.40 Responses to “Falcon Motorcycles In American Express Commercial”
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I like this. Now to just get things booming again.
American express and Coke Cola always had the best commercials!Staying with tradition…………
It should read “Booming… in spite of Obama, Biden and Pelosi.”
But hey, I’m not getting political or anything.
Congrats and Way to go ..I saw it while watching the news this morning…glad to see motorcycles represented in any form of advertising.. it’s good for the industry!
Way to go guys! This commercial, in my opinion, is a positive representation of the motorcycle industry, and the people within our industry, for a change!
Over & Out,
Jeff
It should read “Booming… in spite of Obama, Biden and Pelosi.”
Are you fucking serious? Where had you been the last 8 years? Keep watching Fox! Don’t be so gullible.
The commercial is an illusion, Falcon build wonderful cycles, but they are not booming! They have a financial backer the allows them to do what they are doing. They’ve built 2 bikes in two + years. That is anything but booming. And if you believe they were “approached” by Amex, then I have some cheap ocean side property in Kansas to sell you. They have money and a PR machine to create a brand, and they are doing a great job.
Nice tribute to one of America’s greatest freedom’s, “The ability to start a business and be successful”. Now lets keep the jackass’s in the White House from choking the ever lasting shit out of this freedom. Cyril I can remember you telling me the biggest reason you moved from France was they were taking so much money from you in taxes that you couldn’t be successful in your business. Let’s not let this happen in the US. You can’t fix STUPID but you can VOTE it out!!! Not to be political or anything.
The new buzz is ” MELT UP ” !!
106 Days remaining until the mid-term elections! November 2, 2010 hopefully we, the people. will get the “Change” we need! We have to stop the madness in the White House before they destroy this country totally!
Over & Out,
Jeff
Where were you people when Bush was in the White House? Seriously! If Obama wetn over and caught Bin Laden with his own hands, then went to the Gulf and cleaned up the oil with a dingy, then managed to save the economy and put every last american back to work, you HATERS would still find something wrong with him.
It blows my mind how people on the right are so gullible and so easily manipulated by Fox and others.
Amazing..
Pooper. I agree. It’s FAUX news, anyway. It was American Excess, and Obama inherited 8 years of destruction by Bush. Give him the time. Obama is the greatest, most intelligent, most human, most qualified US President.
pooper,
I will be happy to tell you where I was when Bush was in office…..I was employing 56 people to build bikes and I spent a lot of my time running to the bank twice a day with DEPOSITS from new bike sales, that is where I was!
Where were you? Demonstrating at college (while your parents footed the bill) against the war, racism, global warming, Save the Whales, etc, etc.? Put the bong down and look around you, and please, please loose the term “Haters” …..
Over & Out,
Jeff
its nice to tell your friends you are in an amex spot..buti didnt see any branding or i.d. of the shop, just cool shop and working guys….spent time shooting for no co- branding..unless they got paid for inconvienance or s.a.g. daily rate?
Fox is a not a news organization and is an embarrassment to all true conservatives. Glenn Beck has referred to himself as an entertainer, a rodeo clown, rather than a reporter. Because it brings him $32 million a year taken from all of you poor Obama bashers who don’t understand the interest of your country.
Roger, please enlighten us, what is the, “interest of our country”, since you assumingly do understand?
“I will be happy to tell you where I was when Bush was in office…..I was employing 56 people to build bikes and I spent a lot of my time running to the bank twice a day with DEPOSITS from new bike sales, that is where I was!”
Jeff, So the fall of the economy and the motorcycle industry is Obama’s fault? You were part of a trend that took off because of TV, it died for a number of reasons, not one having to do with Obama or the Dems. It died like the hair bands did in the 80s, and thank god it wont come back. You like many others are victims of a trend, the smart ones stayed small, limited the overhead, rode the wave, banked money and came out the other end surviving. Like my self. You jumped on the band wagon thinking it would never end, you made the choice to hire all those people, etc. You failed and that is your fault.
“Where were you? Demonstrating at college (while your parents footed the bill) against the war, racism, global warming, Save the Whales, etc, etc.? Put the bong down and look around you, and please, please loose the term “Haters” …..”
Completely ignorant statement. Justifying my background is an exercise in futility, your projections of
my beliefs shows your complete lack of cognitive thinking skills. That being said, my father was a veteran, half my family were vets, I never found a need to join any crowd in any kind of protests, I fought my battles in other ways. I’ve been on my own since I was very young, no one paid for a dime of anything for me.
Speaking with people as narrow minded as yourself is like talking to an arm chair. You have your ill informed, ideological beliefs and no matter what the truth is, you will stick to it. Sadly most of the time against your own self interest. Your thinking is why you are in the spot you are in now.
Good luck.
Over and over..
pooper
pooper,
……” Like myself. You jumped on the band wagon thinking it would never end, you made the choice to hire all those people, etc. You failed and that is your fault.”
This last June 15th we were 15 years in business …. we were here and successful way before the TV thing started. Further, we are still here and will continue long after Osama Obama and his clan are nothing more than a bad note in some dusty history book somewhere. I, unlike so many others, did believe it would end and end just about when I expected, which is one more reason why we are still here.
Trust me, Obama only has his own best interest at heart ….. he could care less about anyone in this country other than himself and his own ambitions. I hope you enjoy the socialist country he and his clan are working hard to achieve. Again, I say, I can’t wait until the November Elections …. he and his grand conspirators will be neutered then.
End of subject, have to continue getting ready for Sturgis, running behind schedule because I am in here playing with liberals.
Over & Out,
Jeff
Jeff, Can you elaborate with some specifics of how Mr. Obama is only after their self interest? Can you elaborate on specifics of a socialist agenda? You mean like social security, the fire dept. police? What are his own ambitions? You do nothing but repeat what you hear, you have no original thoughts nor have the ability to think for yourself. Your need to justify yourself to an anonymous person is sad, and says more about your own person than anything else. You sound angry for no reason.
Get ready for Sturgis? How can you do that when the socialist Obamas wont let you? I mean they want to ban guns, stop motorcycle rallys, fishing, save muslims, kill the christians and all of that huh?
Jeff, my friend, you need to educate yourself, really, and not via talk radio and Fox news. You are a drone sir, you are being fooled and led around by your unfounded fears. Glen Beck is a snake oil saleman and you own most of his stock!
Enjoy Sturgis, me and my socialist pals will be plotting the take over of the world when you are buying doo rags and chaps on main street.
over and roll over..
The interest of your country Jeff Nicklus is social and financial justice. You agree to pay schools, fire fighters, police with your real estate taxes even if you child don’t go to school anymore, you don’t have a fire, don’t call police. Don’t you think that access to medical treatment is as (more) important, a basic right. Still in 2010 people die, get bankrupt because they can’t afford good medical insurance. Only in America! Because cost of medecine is prohibitive (see your republican friends financed by drug and insurance companies). By the way do you know that most occidental countries don’t have medical insurance companies? You know why? Because they don’t need them. Nor us. Don’t you think that with the Wall Street Reform just passed and preventing, among other things, the taxpayer to be obliged to bailout a failing bank is a great Obama accomplishment? And the list is much longer. Why do you think that Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, for example, and the most successful people in America who did’t inherit their money support Obama? Because they are true business people who understand the economy. Not you.
Geez, too bad this forum is being used to talk politics and remind people of the new, ever-present mental Mason-Dixon line America.
I like bikes because they usually unite people regardless of political party, creed, race, religion, etc.
As for Falcon, I know they don’t have a financial backer. Instead, they are working hard, repaying loans, and sweating with their own two hands just like millions of other working people in America. The fact they get recognized is because their product is incredible and the media take notice. Good for them.
AmEx actually did contact them out of the blue. Falcon did not solicit their attention and did not “get paid” to appear. They aren’t actors or even spectacle makers like some in the industry (read OCC), they are bike builders. Just like the lady throwing potting clay in the ad didn’t use a PR machine to get into the commercial. Instead, they are AmEx customers and the director of AmEx marketing loves bikes and took notice of Falcon. (And no, he doesn’t own or didn’t order a Falcon bike.) The reason I know this is because I know very well one of the guys hired for the production team.
So here’s to Falcon for being in an “un-branded”, non-logoed TV spot showing small business owners in our red-white-and-blue (not red vs blue) country. Falcon deserves it and they are a credit to our industry.
“As for Falcon, I know they don’t have a financial backer. Instead, they are working hard, repaying loans, and sweating with their own two hands just like millions of other working people in America. The fact they get recognized is because their product is incredible and the media take notice. Good for them.”
WRONG!!! DING DING DING… sorry, you lose, no prize for you. I know a guy that knows a guy that knows that guy too! Every one does on the interwebs. Its ALL very, very calculated. PR is a very specific and calculated process. You sound like the perfect consumer who could sold most things.
Falcon bikes are outstanding, but there have been and is many, many folks that build bikes as well and even better than that and they have not seen nor will ever hope to see that kind of press that Falcon has garnered. The press was garnered because THEY HAVE MONEY to pay for it! Period.
blah blah blah..
Says Pooper:
“The press was garnered because THEY HAVE MONEY to pay for it!”
Proof, please?
Do you have a specific piece of information, or are you making a sweeping generalisation?
As someone who’s been following Falcon from the start, I’d venture that they get tons of press because they are doing something genuinely interesting.
It does sometimes work that way, and there are plenty of journalists out there who rely on a nose for a story and cannot be ‘bought’.
“Proof, please?”
Pick up the phone, call them and ask. Better yet, call them and ask for their PR person. Getting press takes a lot of work and or connections. In the bike world, much more so the esoteric custom bike world, journalist from main stream pubs are not out knocking on doors to find some dude or dudes making bikes for the ocassional rich guy. Wake up. Their bikes are great, but it is NOT anything that has not been done before, the only difference is, they are pushing the PR, and pushing for a certain kind of client. Their first client? An actor! Where do they get press or put the press? Not in the Horse, not in Easy Riders.. It’s LA Mag, Mens Journal, Amex commercials.. HELLO!!!! They are targeting a market of people, very small group, that have 60k plus to spend on a toy. They do not sell parts, shirts, or anything. How do you make money, support a staff, space, etc on two or three bikes sold?
THEY HAVE A BACKER!!!! Good for them! Its awesome, but don’t buy the hype that its this dude struggling and making these bikes while having a hard time making ends meat. Could not be further from the truth. It’s ALL hype. ” Don’t look at the man behind the curtain!”
Don’t take my word for it on the idea of buying PR, just pick up any bike magazine. How many feature of SPS have you seen, and of the same damn looking bikes!!!?? HELLO!?!! Check please!!
Huge Congrats Ian & Amaryllis
Love you guys!
@Pooper – They’re doing a lot more than building the one-off bikes over at Falcon (which I’d imagine a company like AMEX has done their homework on) and which we’ll all learn more about pretty soon I think. I’ve known Ian and one of the guys at the shop for a few years and Ian’s wife, who was a full time midwife helping people with their babies before they started Falcon, is their PR person. With it being a new business I’d imagine she does it for free at this stage. I get how you reached your conclusion but things aren’t always what they appear to be!
Mr. G. It is exactly how it appears to be. The Backer? You mentioned the person. Nothing about that debunks anything I said. Again, its great, but don’t think its some motorcycle cinderela story of some poor talented artist getting a big break, they are wealthy people pushing the PR. It takes money to make money.
I wish them well, but don’t be so gullible that it is ONLY about the nice bike. There are thousands of outstanding bike builders with work of that caliber or better that NEVER see the light of day and it has nothing to do with the quality of work and everything to do with location, backing, connections, and selling a “BRAND”. Like I said before, you will never see his bikes in ER, Horse or other “garage style mags” there is a very good reason for that and it isn’t because the mags dont want it, its because they’ve done their homework and know that the folks that have 60k for a toy do not read those mags.
There and several camps that are voicing opinions on Falcon, one ” greatest thing ever” these are the gullible ones, two ” over hyped nice motorcycles ” I fall somewhere in the middle, leaning more to the over hyped crowd. It doesn’t matter because I would never be a client so it’s all just noise. But, at some point possiblely they will release a brand of t-shirts and the like and tons of drones will buy them up just like they did with Exile and others. Like I said, it’s all very calculated stuff, and they or “she” knows exactly what they are doing. When you get that much exposure for two motorcycles, people are at some point going to say, “what’s the big deal really?, yeah they are really nice, but is it really some that should be that over exposed?” They planned it that way.
Like every other successful start up company, Falcon is a mix of the right ingredients which include knowing what you’re doing, having the recources to do it, and doing it in ways different enough that it gets people’s attention.
Whatever imagined money a company or person does or does not have, has nothing to do with Press. Editorial of the kind of calibur that Falcon Is attracting, New York Times, GQ, Playboy, LA Times, Esquire etc. does not get bought. It would be one thing of they were doing advertorials, but editorial features are another, and by definition reflect the opinion of the periodical. Publications of that ilk would fire a journalist who got bribed to write a story, and editorial features go through a chain of command and fact checking to get approved and finally go to print.
It’s about time that our industry figured out how to put the spotlight on guys building motorcycles, and do it in a way that allows all kinds of people in all different walks of life to appreciate the hard work and dedication that goes into what we do. Prior to Falcon our work’s gone un-noticed for too long, except for the few who were willing and able to dance for the camera on TV and who got paid bucket loads to do it.
Unlike those few, I doubt Falcon makes much of a profit [if any]. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m with Amex: Whatever money, relationships, blood, sweat and tears Falcon have the guts to risk to keep their small business building motorcycles and their employees going – especially at a time like this – is inspiring in my books.
again..we know the company..but does anyone else?, there is no branding on the commercial? no shop signs in the background..so only true bike guys who know falcon or read cyrils site know who they are…the general public that watches the commercial wont go to their website or know who they are? maybe im wrong but i dont see any benefit for the builder, at least when exile did it they had a banner in the background (even though russ was replaced with an actor) and gard from l.a. choprods was mentioned and had a banner it seems falcon missed the mark on this one. when i did speed channel on pinks, i had my web site on my leathers, helmet, crew shirts, i had 22,000 hits that month..it works..but people need to see the brand..maybe amex has rules against it now, but gard and russ made out. and seeing as they have been featured here, you might think they would comment (falcon) on the lack of branding on the commercial
There is no benefit for Falcon, except a small fee for them each time the commercial is run, and a pretext to have Cyril giving them exposure by featuring the commercial.
Pooper! I’m sitting on the pooper next to a stack of “garage style mags”. Easy Riders is a Harley mag, makes sense Falcon building British bikes is not in there, but a lot of them got Falcon in them including last month’s DicE #32.
“Again, its great, but don’t think its some motorcycle cinderela story of some poor talented artist getting a big break, they are wealthy people pushing the PR. It takes money to make money.” —– Ian’s been building bikes for a long time (over eleven years I think?) and has made dozens of them. I met Ian when he was living in a tent in his friend Jay’s back yard for two years, building bikes out of a second tent. No PR machine there, just badass motorcycles and a guy that had given up all of his creature comforts so that he could move to LA and build them. He and his wife met when she was delivering peoples squeakers, and they took out loans to try to build a bike business, nothing unusual there, same as most business owners, you have to borrow the cash to get going. Two years later they’ve got employees and they’re up other interesting stuff that’s not up to me to discuss, but it’s getting eyes because they’re running it different and it’s rad. They are still young as a company and are obviously spending more money than they’re making, so agreed, it’s not a rag to riches story YET, but I sure hope it becomes one, they deserve it.
A1. A hit is not a website visit, A hit is the number of images and graphics and text links downloaded when a web page is opened. For example, one page viewed can be 30 hits or more.
They can thank…Cyril!
brian i know the difference. it was unique visitors, not page views,it was over 80,000 page views. i just stated it wrong. and yes it did translate into sales. so tv exposure definetly works but you must brand yourself, thats what everyone on this thread is missing
A1 – They don’t need to be branded to be repping the bike community in the commercial though, none of the other businesses in the commercial are branded either, it’s just a positive commercial showing real inspiring business owners and it’s cool that bike builders are included. If thier objective was TV exposure then I’m sure they would have made sure that their branding was in there, but I don’t think that’s the point of this spot.
oden….then why shoot it for amex? whats the reward..are you saying they are just doing it to show motorcycles and builders in a positive light? doesnt feed my kids, maybe yours? i wont do radio, t.v. or cable unless i can brand or be paid. just to tell people your shot a commercial isnt enough.ive been their, being used for the shows benefit and i thought it was cool to be on t.v. after you do this a few times you get the jist of it..if they got paid the s.a.g. minumum for the day (about 628 a day) if your a member …thats cool they recieved a benefit, their bikes are cool, they are cool, just saying they should have had a least their logo in the ad to drive web presence.if they get a piece every time it airs even better then there is a reason to alert the world if people like the commercial in focus groups it will continue to air and they will continue to stack those dimes! all good here. but return on time is important to a real business..and if you say they just shot it while they worked,,you have never worked for a producer…pick up that wrench again..no slower this time, can you turn the other end over, now pick it up with the other hand…on and on..it costs time..time is money..thats why im typing this at lunch..lol. congrats again i like their bikes and their style and their plan…much success to you all
The worst thing about this website is that fact that it is stuffed day day out by posts from Nicklus. This wanna be boob spends 18 hours a day on this site.
You can say that again.
A1 – I see what you’re saying. I’m not assuming to know why they did the spot, I was just continuing my earlier comment, it’s good to see a custom-builder being considered “inspiring”, by a red-tape corporation like Amex. By default (I doubt they intended it), falcon, logo-less, represents the builders who aren’t TV personalities or being filmed to make money or drive website traffic or personal agenda, but who are being recognized as hard-working members of society, just like artists, and diner-owners and farmers. If they had their logo all over the ad (if any of the any of the featured companies did) I don’t think I’d like it as much, this way seems more genuine. I’m sure you’re right about web presence and I wish falcon all success also.
you guys are funny. liberals are as evil as conservatives. EVERYBODY is out to get theirs. both parties simply want more power.
oddly enough, dwight eisenhower, while giving his speech detailing why he would not seek re-election, coined the term “military-industrial complex” as a warning of he saw coming. we are now in a never-ending war with the “military-industrial complex” being the main beneficiary while war/terrorism is used to curtail our civil liberties as our children are set up to live in debt they will never recover from. war is expensive. halliburton is a for-profit conglomerate.
last i checked, corporations were NOT “the people.”
while “liberals” and “neocons” argue, both parties, paid for by corporate interests, continue to take turns raping the people. dems and repubs have been running a bait and switch on us for decades and nobody sees because they’re too busy pointing fingers. idiots.
vote libertarian.
Wow! Came across this blog while searching for information on Falcon. The “Pooper” could not let it go! What an ass! Pooper, you are emblematic of all that is wrong with the left: you shrill until you drown out all other opinions. Strict intolerance of diverse opinions is your manifesto. Hope you were finally able to calm down, though the elections this past fall likely were the cause of further apoplexy.