It donned upon me when I looked at the "We need Yonex" thread that fashion appeal is a KEY to badminton advertisement! I was deeply inspired by the posting of this article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050822/sp_afp/badmintonusaworld_050822132627;_ylt=Akw1qVwEPATPOhvkkkfg_FOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cm82NXAwBHNlYwM3NTU- We know very well that since badminton is an in-door sport only in gyms, the likelihood of non-badminton players seeing great players at work is very slim. They will never see the awesome gear that we harness close at hand, the great playing, or even the clothing we wear! Especially since we would most likely change clothing in the gym to outdoor clothing later. Fashion appeal is what we need. Yonex is a major player in this. We know that basketball players and fans will wear basketball shirts outside or in the public. The same goes for hockey, football, and American football fans, so why not change badminton clothing to work the same? This is the greatest way to advertise badminton in my opinion. It's a very simple move in that badminton fans can strut around in their badminton clothing harnessing colours of their favourite badminton country and possibly names including "D Lin" or "T Hidayat" on their backs. Interest sparks in those who are not as knowledgeable in badminton and also raises awareness to the World #1 players. I may get myself more Yonex shirts now and walk around in school and the public with them to raise badminton awareness.
Threading on dangerous grounds... I've read that article..it is interesting watching the players and officials (especially the males) "promoting" better "fashion sense"..see all the 'quotation marks' over the politically correct terms..but sounds to me what they're saying is, we want to see sexier badminton players to draw the crowd... As a fellow female badminton player, I am kinda torn on this subject. On one hand, it is obvious that we cannot deny the commercial reality of the adage saying that '*** sells' and while I really want badminton to become more popular and draw more people to watch it, I certainly would not want to feel like a 'feathered' peace of meat at the same time, pun not intended As many of the female players said, they have no objections so long as it's done tastefully and the player feels comfortable wearing the clothes. Problem you have is that every players' definition of what is "comfortable" and "tasteful" varies as much as their style of play, choice of racquets used and, for that matter, type of atttire to wear on court on the day of play. The other issue of course is that you cannot compare the 'glamour' of tennis to badminton as once again, the almighty dollar sign rears its ugly head. It is hard to look like Maria Sharapova on badminton court when you earn US3,000 for your effort in the world champs compared to winning the Wimbledon trophy accompanied by a nice shiny cheque to the amount of US1 million dollars. Also, due to the lack of exposure and sponsorship involved in badminton, it will be a while before badminton get glamourised in the same category as tennis. Do the maths..I'm sure if Zhang Ning wins that kind of prize money and gets sponsorship not only from badminton associated companies, but from cosmetic giants, fashion designers, stylists from Hollywood, she would easily be as glamourous gliding down the catwalk in Milan on a Saturday night after the finals of All England. Also there's issues of culture and practicality to deal with. Let's face it, at present, tennis powerhouses come from western/european countries where wearing 'sexy' (using this term loosely) outfits does not go against the tide of propriety within their cultures whereas badminton which is traditionally and I believe based on the recent WC results, still dominated by players from Asia with somewhat more modest and restrictive cultural 'guidelines' on what would be appropriate sports attire compared to its European/western counterpart. While wearing sexy outfits on badminton court might attract more spectators and I'm sure most men out there, including you male suscribers to this website, would love to see female players flaunting sexy legs on court..but imagine these girls are your sisters, cousins, close family members..wives even...exactly.. ACK JUST GOT TOLD TO EVACUATE OUR BUILDING BECAUSE OF A BOMB THREAT...NO KIDDING! WILL BE BACK TO CONTINUE THIS.. A
welcome back adelina! in this debate, i think tastefulness and comfortable with are the key. i am quite conservative when it comes to making changes. however, i do think that the latest fashion Yonex created with ladies players wearing skirts is a great change. the designs are elegant and tasteful, brings out the feminine side of the players while at the same time are not revealing that players might not be comfortable with. i do feel that the players enjoy wearing them too, isn't it natural for girls to dress up and make themselves look pretty? (my sincere apologies if i am overly generalizing) so long as it is tasteful, and that the players are comfortable with it, it will make an positive impact to the image of the game. but i do not agree with the "s-e-x sells" strategy. personally i think it is sell-out in order to please male audience who cannot see deeper than the surface. different people have different definition of tasteful. i think some of those very revealing outfit worn by tennis players are rather disgusting looking and i would be very put off from watching them run around in those things.
just a short story that is somewhat related to this topic. i was standing with BC fellow member samkool at the top of the WC audience stand where the IBF official's box seats are. Punch Gunalan was sitting in the box a couple of seats from where we were standing. i told samkool that he is the guy who wanted to make changes like tennis style service in badminton (as well as the sexy clothing change that this thread addresses). upon hearing that, samkool said rather loudly, "well, this just shows that these politicians have no brain." i don't know if Gunalan heard it or not.
Ok - I'm still in one piece, thank goodness! Boy, I'm so glad to be alive! It turned out someone in our building got a call from someone stating that there's a bomb in our building and it will explode soon! That's why we all had to evacuate. Police bomb experts arrived at the scene together with all the remote control robots used to disarm bombs etc..it turned out to be a hoax, no bomb etc...but it was scary! Anyway, back to where I left off..I think I covered the issue of culture but not practicality...so what I meant by this is sometimes wearing something sexy may not be practical. I remember watching a tennis match between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in some tournament or another and Serena was wearing her own design outfit..it looks sexy, but damn right impractical and uncomfortable (no different to her 'catwoman' outfit - leather in that heat? That's just stupid!) I would rather say Mia Audina dressed in her pajamas and play beautifully on court than see her in some sexy outfit revealing her belly button but see her struggle to play her best because she's too self conscious of what she's exposing and constantly adjusting her clothes due to this awkwardness. So in the end, the question is, what is the price do we pay to put forward something, at the expense of another? Agreed with what Kwun says...looking feminine like the yonex skirts, yes, flesh revealing outfits or tight outfits, no. Adelina and her two cents worth..
It donned upon me when I looked at the "We need Yonex" thread that fashion appeal is a KEY to badminton advertisement! >>Most of yonex Badminton shirt are too colorful, I may get myself more Yonex shirts now and walk around in school and the public with them to raise badminton awareness. >> That's all good, but to raise badminton awareness, I think we need more than just wearing Badminton shirts in the public. I picked up LA times last week, wishing that some badminton pictures from badminton championship would make it on those column, to my disappointment, I found only the score were posted next to pictues of the Horse's head (from horses racing). In order to have succesful badminton program in the US,the USBA should have the following in their priority list : -Hire qualify personals to do the following: -get "more" money into the programs - Media coverages (newspapers, TV, etc) in the major cities, LA, SF, NY,etc. - Network with nike, reebooks, etc - Corporates Sponsorship. it's a shame to see a handful sponsors from such a big event.
i too feel the same way of what have been said here. I wouldn't like to sell out in a rush to gain instant popularity. I may not like the crowd we would attract using s** to sell and at the same time repel another group of people who find it offensive. So in the end, net gain in popularity might not be as big as gunalan wanted. Worst, it may backfire, just like the 7 and 9 point scoring system. With so much violent in sports, i think badminton can open many doors to youths that wanted a better alternative. Take golf for example, it's a mainstream sport that doesn't rely of selling s** to promote itself. I think we can capture alot of new audience if we promote it as a healthy and fair sports. Having other clothing brands help too because there would be natural selection and competiton among them. The audience will eventually decide what's they like and dislike overall, that would be the best outcome.
I dont think its the navel people see when women insert fashion into tennis. I humbly suggest that it is a tighter shirt thats the difference. PS I personally prefer the present style
Badminton should be recognized to the world for the sport itself. NOT for the reputation of alluring and seducing its viewers. I'd rather have badminton's popularity as it is, than letting it be known to the world as a "dirty" sport . Appealing or not , this is not the right way to gain popularity! ~ J
Actually i will have to completely agree with this.We 'need' more good looking players and much better clothing to change the look.There are some guys in the MS which is good to see,yet we need more especially from the other 4 events. I doubt Sharapova would be that much of a smash hit if she had a really long nose or if she would n't wear the clothes she does.So simply speaking in some sports there is more talk about 'other' things than the sport itself.there is a hype. While we can keep saying that 'BADMINTON SHOULD BE PURE' etc..etc ,i dont think anybody can deny the fact that good looking and good dressed players are real crowd pullers[in case of Badminton Lin,taufik,Bao etc].Take a look at Tennis.It is so very popular in the world as compared to Badminton,yet all i hear about tennis is a handful MS and WS players.No one cares for doubles...why?Not too many 'stars'.I never hear anything about doubles or ever[inspite of so much coverage given to tennis] see tennis doubles on TV.Tennis infact is just 'hyped'. Why not do what they do in Tennis.just pick a few good looking,great dressed [and good playing] players and market them like nuts,just build a hype all around. I agree this is not the best way,But u cannot ask for anything less in today's world,have to catch up with times.
*** sells, women shuttlers agree - IBF *** sells, women shuttlers agree ANAHEIM, California — The International Badminton Federation (IBF) are calling on their female athletes to wear more glamorous outfits. Speaking during the finals of the World Championships here on Sunday, IBF deputy president Punch Gunalan said he wished the women shuttlers would dress more like Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova. "We are too old fashioned," Gunalan said. "We need to be in the fashion world. So we would like to see players wear more appealing clothes … So when people walk around they would want to wear it. Let’s take Maria Sharapova. Look at her tank tops. They are pretty." New Zealand bronze medallist Sara Runesten-Petersen said: "I wouldn’t mind it. I can’t wear skimpy tops because of my shape, but some of the girls have beautiful bodies, so there is nothing to hide. "Lots of girls wear skirts and skimpy tops, why not when they play sports? I wouldn’t want to play in just a bra, but a (tank) top is fine. "Why not when you are a girl, look like a girl. But it should be up to the individual and not enforced." Olympic champion Zhang Ning, of China, has no objection. "It is acceptable to me," said Zhang. "The tank top is all right, just not the string top." Men’s singles champion Taufik Hidayat, of Indonesia, said flashier outfits are "a good idea." — AFP
IBF want female players to ‘get glamorous’ TheStar 23rd Aug 05 The International Badminton Federation (IBF) are calling on their female players to wear more glamorous outfits, complaining that the traditional style of dress is too old fashioned. The IBF deputy president Datuk Punch Gunalan said at the World Championships in Anaheim on Sunday that he wished the women would dress more like Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova. “We are too old fashioned,” Gunalan said. “Nowadays the girls are becoming a little better dressed. We need to be in the fashion world. So we would like to see players wear more appealing clothes to the public. By appealing, I mean use it for everyday use. So when people walk around, they would want to wear it. Unfortunately we are far away from that. Let’s take Maria Sharapova. Look at her tank tops. It is pretty.” New Zealand bronze medallist Sara Runesten-Petersen said that she is in favour of anything that will attract more fans to the sport as long as it isn’t forced on them. “I wouldn’t mind it. I can’t wear skimpy tops because of my shape but some of the girls have beautiful bodies so there is nothing to hide,” said Runesten-Petersen. “Lots of girls wear skirts and skimpy tops why not when they play sports? “I wouldn’t want to play in just a bra but a (tank) top is fine. Why not when you are a girl, look like a girl. But it should be up to the individual and not enforced.” Olympic champion Zhang Ning, of China, said that she had no objection as long as it was done tastefully. “It is acceptable to me,” said top seed Zhang. “The tank top is all right, just not the string top.” Men’s singles champion Taufik Hidayat, of Indonesia, said flashier outfits are “a good idea”. The IBF’s attempt to popularise the game to a larger audience was evident by the use of scantily-clad cheerleaders during the breaks between matches on Sunday at the Arrowhead Pond. “Our target is to promote the game to the audiences,” said Gunalan. Gunalan said that he was talking to attire manufacturers about coming up with some new ideas. “There is too much monopoly right now for one company, Yonex. We need to get companies like Reebok, Nike and Adidas involved,” he said.
It constantly astounds me how people at decision-making positions come to their conclusions. While, yes, some logistics, like fitting advertisements between breaks etc are quite valid, players not being "attractively attired" is perhaps a cheap shot. Really now ... although gone are the days when relying on the merits of the game itself to promote itself, there are other more solid strategies to be considered and pushed for. If Punch is looking for quick-and-easy (i.e. eye-candy), instead of slow and steady, such as the import of foreign players, badminton camps, etc, as such suggested by more knowledgable BadmintonForum members, I shudder to acknowledge the IBF as the governing body of badminton. I'll rant, and say that although the challenges faced by the IBF in promoting badminton are many and difficult, I'd prefer IBF to promote badminton; taking the role of ambassador for badminton, instead of pandering. -dave
Sexist Comment I can't believe that the IBF deputy preseident, Gunalan, can make such a ridiculous public statement. It's insulting to women! Making comments like that will offend women, not attract them to the game. He implies that women are pretty little trinkets! How about suggesting that men wear fishnet shirts so they can show off their rippling abs?! Feh! If a player has talent, I don't care if he or she wears a sleevelss undershirt and pajama shorts (just like the slum dwellers in Kung Fu Hustle). In fact, I'd cheer harder for that person just for his or her independent streak! He should retract his statement and apologize!
I think badminton players should wear cloth more like nadal, the spanish tenis player... we need nike!
Badminton's Nadal Badminton does have a Nadal--Cheng Shiao-Chieh! I am a big fan of her! She recently won the bronze in the WS event in the World Championship.
I ran with the idea a while back of trying to give badminton some "attitiude" - I came up with a T-shirt design that was aggressive (a flaming bird approach, but with brighter colors) and coupled it with slogans that went along the lines of the old "No fear" shirts. It was a combination of the "Bury the Bird" and "Don't play my game". "300 km/h SMASH ... good players might return it. Lucky ones get out of the way" "FINESS: With perfect touch, I work the court like a game of chess, making you run until you pant like a dog and your lungs are ready to explode.... Don't play my game" "POWER: With unrelenting offense, I hammer the shuttle at you, until I break your spirit and all you can do is watch the shuttle hit the floor. Don't play my game." "Bound for the next round. Bury the Bird" "It's only a wussy sport to those too inept to play. Bury the Bird." The idea was to give Badminton some edge to it. Bring it away from the backyard and the snooty upper class image it tends to be saddled with. The trial run was well recieved though it was without the slogans and only simgle color (silver on a black shirt). I may run with this again with the full color slate. If I do I'll see if people here might be interested. To that end I suggest that Yonex is NOT the people to look to, but Adididas/Nike/Champion - people who make clothing for a wide range of sports.
