Well now it really hits the fan.
I received my new issue of "Family Fun" magazine today. Some of you may recall this is the publication that brought a lot of attention to the hobby. Especially from Scout troops and the like. Lnd-Crzr posted about this in the March 2007 blog. I was flipping through the pages when I was confronted by a full page, two sided ad by Chevrolet. The title of the ad was "Welcome to Letterbox Camp"! !!!! The flip side is entitled "Learn it, Love it. Letterboxing!"
The front side has peel off "caches" for people to play with. It is very bright and colorful, asking questions using words like "adventure" "challenge" and "hidden clues". it seems enticing to my untrained eye. The other side includes a "Letterbox Lexicon" and a gear checklist.
Unfortunately, it seems to freely mix letterboxing and geocaching in several ways, including suggesting supplies such as a compass OR a GPS unit. :( There are a few other references to caches. The link at the bottom of the page did not work for me. It is www.familyfun.com/letterboxcamp
On the flip side it does preach the "Leave No Trace" motto with at least two different times saying to rehide better than found and avoid disturbing nature.
I must say this just freaked me out. If this ad is in this mainstream magazine what other publications also bear this message? Surely other specialized magazines will have this as well.
It's all out there now folks. It was inevitable.
If you would like to see this ad let me know. I am still trying to figure out how to resize it and post a link. (Sorry Clyde, this dog hasn't learned that trick yet!)
2 comments:
Someone posted a scanned image of the ad on AQ. It can be found at:
http://www.atlasquest.com/images/gallery/01/85/17885lg.jpg
Letterboxing with corporate sponsors? Egads! What horrifying thought.
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