I wrote to MEC about this, saying it's a bit, if not very insensitive to sell Ghost bikes in a city like Toronto or anywhere really. They wrote back letting me know my comment is being passed onto the Head Office. Shall keep you posted.
Story on Torontoist: http://torontoist.com/2012/02/mec-advertising-ghost-bikes%E2%80%94no-not-those-ghost-bikes/
Response from MEC head office: "Apart from the name, moreover, GHOST bicycles bear no resemblance to bike memorials: were you to place one next to the other, the two would stand in sharp contrast."
5 comments:
Careless, yes; insensitive, only if they were not careless. It is a brand name of a bike company from a non-English speaking country...
Ghost Bikes is a german bicycle brand, that was estimated in the early 90s.
that was a long time before anybody (at least here in germany) ever heard about the "other ghost bikes".
Stimmt, Till, aber es tut trotzdem sehr weh.
This company exists under this name since 1993, the first "Ghost Bike" has popped up 10 years later, in 2003. One may say, that this name will not help sell their bikes in North America. But being offended by it is entirely rediculous!
Well, Johannes, many people in Toronto are offended, so I guess I am relating how they feel. And I do share their concerns.
The fact the company has been around since 1993 is not relevant in this case. The local context however is very relevant since Toronto is the most dangerous place to ride a bicycle in Canada.
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