posted by Gareth White on 15th January 2008
Unfortunately i got the news the other day from Reef Wetsuits and Science Bodyboards Brand Manager, Len Bradford and despite numerous attempts to clarify these claims he confirmed this terrible news earlier today with the following press release.2730 views
 | Michelle Daniels 17th January 2008 16:17 |
| "Len at Science" so cool you are so supportive and a company of your "word" and stoked for the donation by Neels of Vivid Zeel as well!--very cool! Just ordered that one myself :) I apologize for getting so in-a-huff yesterday over all this--still working on walking away from things, taking a breath, thinking about it and not responding so spontaneously. As it inevitably looks bad, gets others rialed up and feel bad about it later, hey! Thanks guys for your understanding and spy and Martin for helping to see the reality and Len for your positive words/outlook. :) Just really looking forward to Puerto Rico, getting away and hopefully being there during the "window of the Margara Bodyboarding Challenge"! I read it is "The Pipe of the Atlantic". Will be so stoked! :) | |
 | Len Bradford 17th January 2008 14:06 |
| well we at science/reef are really excited to see who the winners going to be, our two tjeks of R4000 are waiting and Neels from Vivid Zeal gave a Hollow cast DVD and Three T-shirts. Viva Neels buys his DVD | |
 | Pierre Marqua 17th January 2008 11:19 |
| Michelle.. sorry if i shocked you, but that is the reality, i and i stand by what i said. | |
| Brian Petzer 17th January 2008 09:04 |
| I recon Len and the boys should put together a BIG FAT INVOICE for advertising on this site, poster design and printing ect. Check how many times the web page was viewed multiply by the Sixty/40 advertising/design costs according to industry standards and how much it's going to cost to take their name off all the ads and web pages and bill them for it. Simple, if they say nothing is for free, so can you. | |
| Martin Ras 17th January 2008 08:27 |
| When I was still with Vuka, I think it would've been best if we had signed a contract otherwise we have no feet to stand on really. Again I apologize. Regards, Martin Ras | |
| Michelle Daniels 16th January 2008 20:05 |
| EXCELLENT observation and comment, Peter!! And as Martin Ras stated " that is how they(VUKA) bought it over so they(VUKA) have to carry on with all promotions." I also read that it was THEIR idea to be involved originally and THEY approached you all?!?! It's not like they were strong armed into it and had doubts from the start? SPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dude, I'm shocked at you! There's no facing nothin like you said, buddy! Don't give up! F&#@ that doom and gloom kind of attitude. No sweeping it under the carpet when you all have the power to do something about it. It's about the principle of their prior agreement, contract(?), and the publicity that has included THEIR NAME since day 1!! I can honestly say that I for one, had never heard of VUKA, until reading about VUKA on this site!! That's called advertising!! RUSSELL where have you been? ;) So VUKA thinks VUKA is going to get it for free?? BU&&$H!T@! Yeah, no one likes to see me MAD and I definitely have the time now to research and make VUKA's life miserable if VUKA doesn't step up to the plate and honor their previous commitment!! Very shoddy business practice on VUKA's part! That is wrong, wrong, wrong of "VUKA", not to mention a very bad, public image of them as well! Hah! I give them a month to make things right. Are they not concerned about the future outlay of money in attempts to redeem themselves? And they thought donating a scooter was pricey! Hahahah They ain't seen nothin yet :) As far as big companies putting large amounts of $$ on the table, Start with baby steps :) You all have some amazing, dedicated help, volunteers who are willing to go the extra mile in accomodating what you all so enjoy! I know how behind-the-scenes preparation often goes unnoticed, can be very labor intensive, extremely time consuming and may appear unappreciated by the younger set. However we/you do it because you have such a passion for the sport and it is excellent for the young people as well. Hopefully this will be an eye-opener to get some of the young guns on board, who have not done much in the past, to help out as well. As far as FREE websites to use? Go to freewebs.com We use to use them to link up to from our main webpage for all our members profiles, pictures, etc. to reduce and prevent further expense. There are also many helpful sites on the internet, with HTML coding, to assist. Many kids are astute(?) at doing this as well. My daughter, Tessa, handwrote all the HTML coding when she was only 11/12 for our Flow-surf site. Impressive and very creative what many kids are capable of doing, if given the chance. :) Another suggestion, would love to see a page dedicated to instruction for people wishing to give donations to help out the SA Bodyboarding association--or different area's that could be specified with specific needs? It has been my past experience that people generally like to see where their money is going specifically, when making a donation. Just a thought. Seeing all that you all do is very commendable! No offense to anyone--and Spy--love ya just the same! ;) | |
 | Peter Lambert 16th January 2008 17:01 |
| Vuka pulling out of the Reef / Science contest has nothing to do with media exposure. Martin Ras, a bodyboarder, on Behalf of Vuka made a legal commitment to Reef/Science to sponsor the contest. The contest went ahead and after 10 of the 12 months of the contest where past, vuka was sold back to head office as a going concern, and the new owners decided that they didn't feel like paying for a new scooter to be donated to the contest. That's like saying when I buy a company, I no longer have to pay the company's creditors. Vuka the company is its own legal entity and its the company that made the agreement, a change in ownership doesn't mean that its no longer legally responsible... the idea is insane! Now they use some lame ass excuse that they didn't get enough media exposure in order to try back out. This is just a diversion. They where mentioned in at least 3 articles and would have also have been a fixture at the cape classic, which is a nationally sanctioned contest. Vuka has never once complained about a lack of media coverage ever, nor was a measurable amount of coverage agreed upon. Its insane that anyone is buying their lame arse excuse - its simple... martin bodyboarded, he was keen, the new owners don't... now they don't want to pay despite being legally obliged to honour the agreement that they are trying very cunningly to weasel out of. There should be legal recourse against vuka, and some negative media exposure (vuka renages on sponsorship for corporate greed etc....) if reef/science/martin are prepared to step up to the plate I'm sure vuka could be motivated to not renage on their agreement. | |
| Pierre Marqua 16th January 2008 14:15 |
| In all Honesty... and lets face it, this is and will remain a very low key contest, up until the day that some serious cash is laid on the table. TheXXL awards is sponcered by billabong, and lets look at how the buget is spent. | 1) $100 000 dollars in prise money 2) High end specific website 3) Print advertising 4) Event parties 5) Web advertising 6) Media accross the world are publisisng any and every session that goes down, thus building and generating interest. Now lets look at this contest 1) Budget of (not 100% on this but i am will to through it out there of under R10K 2) Most of that budget is going to prise money 3) Nothing for anything else, not even a banner on wavescape, let alone a dedicated website, definatly cant afford a media liasoning company, no networking parties, no media launches. 4) All its got going for it is a facebook group and coverage on this site, which is hit by only a target specific group and not much else. Kudos go out to all those involved in this, seriously you have my respect for trying to do this on Fokal budget, I love the idea and as soon as i go digital i will pull in with some pics on someone other than peter charging big waves. Someone has to give the Pete/DC team a run for their money. I can understand Vukas point of view, but other than putting up a scooter as a prize, what other investment have they made into this. Every company wants to see a return on investment, invest nothing and thus expect nothing back in return.. honestly, what were they expecting, coverage like the Red Bull Big Wave Africa.... dont they know that Red Bull spends over R2 000 000 on that event every year. Hence i felt good riddence, they were sponging off sponges and to pull out like that, yeah well fug em, i definatly wont buy one of their bikes. And will dis them to anyone who even thinks of buying their products. Viva vespa! In conclusion, Budget + dedicated marketing + advertising + a decent criteria = success. LIVE AND LEARN KIDS. | |
 | Russell Shaw 16th January 2008 13:56 |
| I personally never saw any publicity for Vuka, I may have honestly overlooked it, maybe they felt the same way. Was the Scooter prize offered in writing by contract etc? That way there may be some recourse. | |
| Pierre Marqua 16th January 2008 13:17 |
| Well scooters suck anyways, and hey lets face it, its not a vespa. Anyways i skim a big wave hero should be cruising in a pimp ass hummer or something. Try picture ol Peter Lambert or the machine Schmo Grant pitching up at Sunset car park or hout bay harbour on a little scooter... the term äg cute"comes to mind, not "Dude you have one serious set of balls" I recon they would be laughed out by Duffes, De Villers, Lowe and crew... surfers get cars, boogers Scooters... good riddence. Live and Learn from this kids. peace. Sorry if i offened any scooter riders ;p | |
| Martin Ras 16th January 2008 12:02 |
| Hi guys also my apologies I went Len when Vuka was still our business and made the deal with him, when we sold our franchise back to head office it was seen as an going concern that is how they bought it over so they have to carry on with all promotions. Unfortunately they don’t see it that way. Hope that this will never be repeated. I am part of Elizabeth Galloway Fashion Academy now do the marketing for them and I do hope that we can do honest business in the future with Len (Science/Reef) and Kelly (Sixty40) Regards, Martin Ras | |
| Len Bradford 16th January 2008 10:28 |
| their logo was on all the articals and the scooter was mentioned on all the articals, we did send them a poster that mike dc designed and they never came back to us about it. they would have get coverage in the sixty40 mag and were aloud to have a display at the briefing. they were mentioned on sixty40 website with links as well as facebook. | |
 | Bryan Paynter 16th January 2008 08:14 |
| Man, that really sucks but to be honest I hadn't heard that Vuka were involved, so maybe they weren't getting the coverage? It's a tough one! A pity too, cos as a sponger who gets around on a little bike, they're the sickest mode of transport, tie your board on the back and reap the 550km per 12l economy! | |
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