[toss1]

>> it's an advertisement. It's not a how-to.

But if you are showing the activity, why not show it being done properly, instead of showing it being done wrong?

Of course the adverts are not explicit How-To pics/vids, but learning takes repetition. It helps that people see it being done right every time, instead of sometimes wrong and sometimes right, especially when the wrong examples are in the context of creating the "isn't this cool" vibe.

If they think it is somehow uncool to wear appropriate gear, they are poisoning the well of the sport to enhance the sales of their own product. Not cool, and they are properly called out.

[Rebelgecko]

>But if you are showing the activity, why not show it being done properly, instead of showing it being done wrong?

Because advertising that makes a product look more Xtreme sells better. Car companies figured that out decades ago

[toss1]

I understand that extreme sells. Yet I don't any mountain bike or longboard adverts with the riders doing stunts without helmets, gloves, etc.

Plus, those adverts are showing the opposite of extreme, such as drinking a couple of glasses of wine on the kayaks out in the middle of the water body. They are making it look casual, like being in a Disney park where everything is all pre-vetted for safety. Extreme would be closer to naked polar-dips in the icy waters or running Class 4+ rapids.

And this is the exact problem — they are making this look like a causal outing that anyone can do, loike a picnic on a park bench, without bothering with the hassle of flotation and cold-water gear.

But this isn't in a hotel pond in the Caribbean, where the water is warm, self-rescue is easy, and people are nearby to help.

The parkas tell us that this is in waters that will render you immobile from cold in a matter of seconds if you aren't wearing the right gear (and that parka will soak and drag you under even if you manage to stay conscious). Fall of this "park bench" with what they are wearing, and they are instantly in a minutes-to-save-your-life survival situation.

They are literally demonstrating how their customers can get killed. And it would be SO EASY to show the opposite; just put on some proper gear.