My first reaction on seeing this video (see below) was to tweet @hamishanddave and warn them! At first glance, it seems US Eventing's adopted fashionista, Courtney Young, along with two assistants who magically appear like something out of Charmed had all gone bananas, taking an axe to set of cross country boots. Then you realise this is an 'infomercial' independent 3D3Ws spoof stress test of ECOGOLD's cross country boots, which they claim are stronger than an axe. Quite why they chose an axe to demonstrate strength I'm not quite sure? If anything even remsembling an axe were ever to be encountered on a cross country course I'm sure the course builder would have Eventing Safety John after them like a shot......
In all seriousness, I really like this company's products, especially the saddle pads, but the thought of ladies in pretty summer dresses, with axes attacking cross country boots made me nervously reach for a cricket box.
Update following comment (thanks)
Here's What they were spoofing:
Great boots, but I'm still not sure about the whole axe thing though
This is absolutely not an infomercial. ECOGOLD had nothing to do with this video. It is an independent test from Three Days Three Ways (3D3W).
Here's the truth - Our XC boots are soft & flexible and all other boots in North America are rigid - they're either made with a metal plate or hard plastic shell. When we first introduced our boots, a lot of riders were skeptical & thought they would not protect the horse's leg from impact. To convince them of their protection, our engineering team made this impact test video in October 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ogdTelXbo
A few weeks ago, we sent out a press release about our boots. A few magazines & blogs asked us for samples to try. Among them, was Courtney Young from Three Ways Three Days.
Three Ways Three Days decided to do their own axe test video to see if our claim that "ECOGOLD XC Boots are stronger than an axe" was really true. They performed the test with their 3D3W style and flair!
We are not advertisers, have ever paid Three Days Three Ways anything or have any connections to any of their staff. All we did is send them a sample of our boots.
If the boots had not withstood the impact of the boot, you would be seeing a very different video.
Please retract the statement that this is an "infomercial" from ECOGOLD, as this is untrue and unfair to our company and to the independence of 3D3W. We had no involvement with this video.
Hi Monty
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely not an infomercial. ECOGOLD had nothing to do with this video. It is an independent test from Three Days Three Ways (3D3W).
Here's the truth - Our XC boots are soft & flexible and all other boots in North America are rigid - they're either made with a metal plate or hard plastic shell. When we first introduced our boots, a lot of riders were skeptical & thought they would not protect the horse's leg from impact. To convince them of their protection, our engineering team made this impact test video in October 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ogdTelXbo
A few weeks ago, we sent out a press release about our boots. A few magazines & blogs asked us for samples to try. Among them, was Courtney Young from Three Ways Three Days.
Three Ways Three Days decided to do their own axe test video to see if our claim that "ECOGOLD XC Boots are stronger than an axe" was really true. They performed the test with their 3D3W style and flair!
We are not advertisers, have ever paid Three Days Three Ways anything or have any connections to any of their staff. All we did is send them a sample of our boots.
If the boots had not withstood the impact of the boot, you would be seeing a very different video.
Please retract the statement that this is an "infomercial" from ECOGOLD, as this is untrue and unfair to our company and to the independence of 3D3W. We had no involvement with this video.
Warm regards,
Patricia Da Silva
VP Marketing
ECOOGOLD