WAG Politics in the gym

[bogwoppit]

Note: I do not care who Liang Chow is endorsing, this is not about his political leanings. So do not even venture into a discussion of current politics or your post will be deleted.

This post is about how you feel about politics in the gym and how you would feel if your gymnast was used in this kind of video.

Discuss.

My take is, I would be furious if this happened in a gym my kid was in.

 

[flowerchild]

Wonder if/ how much they paid Chow to make the video? Clearly all the gymnast's parents knew they were in it, you have to sign a release for these sorts of things.

So, if your GO was active politically, and decided to make a service spot, you'd prob have the option of NOT having your gymmie participate.

Just as an aside, I'll bet it was a non- practice day. I've been involved in taping a similar length commercial/ promo spot, and it took the camera crew approx 6 hours on site to film what ended up being 15 seconds of footage.

 

[bogwoppit]

We should ask @lovofu her dd is in the video.

 

[gymdog]

That is...odd. I have never seen anything like that before, so I've never really thought about it. Much as I respect Liang Chow, I'm frankly surprised that this would an endorsement of interest to a major campaign...

 

[flowerchild]

Well it's likely being shown in Iowa for the Caucus. I suspect Chow is pretty famous in Iowa, he did give them 2 Olympic Gold medalists. Prob won't be shown on TV anywhere else though.

 

[gymdog]

Well it's likely going to be shown in Iowa before the Caucasus. I suspect Chow is pretty famous in Iowa, he did give them 2 Olympic God medalists. Prob won't be shown on TV anywhere else though.

I guess it makes sense from a Midwestern diversity standpoint in that sense, like I said on first watch I was just surprised. I don't think this is likely to be something most of us ever deal with, I guess is kind of where I'm going. For very local campaigns, maybe.

 

[flowerchild]

Fortunately, the Iowa Caucus is tomorrow, so bogwoppit won't have to be horrified about it for long, lol!

 

[Muddlethru]

If my daughter's gym did anything like this and she was asked to participate, as long as I supported the endorsement, I would not have any issue. However, if I didn't, I would not let my daughter participate. Chow's is a private company; and should be able to support whomever he pleases. It may be a risk for him however if parents did not support his views and decide to leave.

Our HC once told the girls he was being considered to do a reality gymnastics TV show. If he had decided to do this, we would leave.

 

[txgymfan]

Clearly many of Chow's gymnasts were not in the video. I would not feel comfortable with my girls in any posted video including ads for the gym or even worse a political ad. I would also dread the asking, begging, pleading and potential fit of Gymmie who would DIE if she could not be in the ad with her friends.

We have two girls (one Gymmie) both under the age of 10 and they have as small of a social media presence as possible. We can't control what their noncustodial mom posts, nor the group shots they are in from school events that friends' parents post. I occasionally refer to them on Facebook by age or grade but I never ever post their pictures. Their dad does not use or read social media at all.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Nope, nope, nope. I wouldn't appreciate one of our coaches jumping into politics in general, and especially not using the girls in the ad. I'm assuming it wasn't something done during practice time, and was optional, and I still don't care for it.

 

[2G1B]

I assume that the parents had to give permission, and as long as that is true, I'm fine with it. Especially in Iowa, he is a celebrity and honestly, I'd care more about his opinion than most of the Hollywood types who do so many commercials.

Personally, I would not OK my kid being in an ad for a candidate who I would never support; but I'd bet that there are parents who are not as wrapped up in politics as I am who wouldn't even care who the ad was for.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Gabby and Shawn's names seemed to be used in that ad as well - I hope he got their okay in addition to the parents of those gymnasts who appeared.

Ad aside, I guess he is a business owner just like any other business or organization who endorses a particular candidate or political cause - the risk when you do that is you could lose customers who are strongly on the opposing side.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

All the kids would have to have releases.

Chow can support who ever he wants as can our coaches, don't care as long as they do their jobs as coaches. Our coaches has some strong life choices that I don't agree with. My daughter knows what her coaches are, what ours are. And she ultimately will make her own choices.

Watching that ad, I don't see how any one would think those kids were supporting any one. No names. So if it were my kid and she wanted to I would be fine with it.


Now Gabby and Shawn are adults and if I were them I would be ticked if they didn't ask. But my guess is he has a blanket release from way back.

 

[txgymfan]

There was another still picture of gymnasts with Chow all holding Jeb! signs.

 

[Sneezyone]

I would never allow my child to be used in this way whether I supported the candidate or not. They are not adults, they cannot vote, and should not be used as political props. I would also be livid if a generic photo release was used this way. This kind of thing is why I don't sign generic releases and/or cross out and initial any language with which I disagree.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I'm very politically active, but I don't ever even let my kids or their parents know which candidates I support; I keep my politics out of the gym. I'm kind of floored that Chow would deliberately do the exact opposite.

 

[flippingtogether]

As a marketing professional, I find the idea of this commercial fascinating. It is very unique and different from other political commercials out there - very attention-getting. I would imagine in the mix of normally very ho-hum ads that all look and sound the same (with the candidate shaking hands with his or her constituents), this one stands apart.

If my kid were at this gym, however, I'd not be thrilled that the owner was being so open with his or her views and actively working with/for a candidate. Just strikes me as over the boundary line.....I guess I can't articulate more than that but it just seems so oddly out of place.

I am guessing he didn't have to get the ok from Shawn/Gabby since he is stating a fact that these ladies trained with him when they won gold - no political ties with their mention. But I'd be curious to know if they did know/were asked ahead of time.

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

 

[profmom]

I'd be quite unhappy. He's free to do whatever he wants politically on his own time, but I don't think using his athletes as props is appropriate. If several of them are actually Jeb Bush supporters, I suppose it's fine if they film a commercial to that effect, but if it's being filmed in the gym, I think it sends a message that the gym itself is a politicized space.

I wonder how comfortable the older girls who are staunch Democrats are after seeing that commercial? I had very well defined political views by the time I was 13 or 14, and was active politically before I could vote. And I wonder about the other coaches. As someone who's in a supervisory position, I would not want to make my subordinates and supervisees feel like they are not welcome in my organization. That's just bad management.

 

[Redford]

Politics + childrens sports = no go for me
I think I wouldn't even agree if we were talking about a regional polititian who promises to support sports in his region once he's elected. Politics is involved enough in (international) sports as it is.
I'm studying politics and gymnastics is my one sanctuary in life where nothing matters: not race, nor religion, education, money or political views. I'm quite frankly horrified, I would never use my socially still developing kids to underline my political opinion!
If a presidential candidate (and I'm not only talking about Jeb Bush and this particular commercial) needs something like this to get votes, that would make me very suspisious about the content of his political program. Just saying.

 

[Muddlethru]

At first thought, I did not mind Chow mixing his practice with politics. While I still support the idea of private businesses and individuals having the freedom to voice out their beliefs and opinions, I prefer that they don't. Politics is such a touchy subject for many and can cause segregation. My 10 year old seems very interested in politics and at every election has asked my husband and I who we are voting for. Our political views are in the minority in our community. I refrain from telling her because I want her to eventually make her own decisions and I would hate for her friends to judge her. Ten year olds can be judgmental without even knowing why.

The ad does not state Douglas or Johnson support Jed Bush. Chow is merely listing his "accomplishments". So perhaps clearing that with the gymnasts is not necessary. However, the ad should at least have a disclaimer that not all members of Chow's support his endorsements. I would not be okay with any implication that my child and our family support a candidate if we did not really support said candidate.