{"id":349272,"date":"2025-12-15T09:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/349272\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T09:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:44:10","slug":"who-is-paying-for-these-ads-the-motor-industry-cyclists-blast-enduras-dont-be-a-helmet-wear-one-safety-campaign-inspired-by-the-guy-wh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/349272\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWho is paying for these ads? The motor industry?\u201d Cyclists blast Endura\u2019s \u2018Don\u2019t be a helmet, wear one\u2019 safety campaign\u2026 inspired by the guy who rode a Lime Bike into a canal + more on the live blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ah, cycling\u2019s seemingly never-ending helmet debate, it\u2019s been a while.<\/p>\n

Last week, you may remember, we reported on the live blog that Endura had launched a new ad campaign in London<\/a>, encouraging helmet use featuring the slogan: \u201cDon\u2019t be a helmet. Wear one\u201d (helmet manufacturer wants people to wear helmets, shocking I know).<\/p>\n

The Scottish cycling brand\u2019s Dan Walker-inspired slogan wasn\u2019t the only intriguing thing about its fancy new billboard on Quaker Street \u2013 there was also a massive apparently bike-shaped hole in it, too:<\/p>\n

\"Endura<\/p>\n

That conveniently-positioned \u2018crash\u2019 \u2013 and even more convenient saddle angle and block of wood, holding the stricken bike in place \u2013 certainly raised a few eyebrows online (and fooled a few of the more gullible types in the road.cc office, it has to be said. Though I\u2019m not naming names\u2026).<\/p>\n

Endura later told us that the campaign\u2019s attention-grabbing billboard was inspired by Nathan Hugh Robert, a Londoner who went viral last month after riding a Lime bike through the city\u2026 and crashing it into Regent\u2019s Canal.<\/p>\n

\n@nathanhughrobert<\/a><\/p>\n

I fell in a London canal<\/p>\n

\u266c original sound – Nathan Hugh Rob\u00e9rt<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

After the video of Nathan\u2019s soggy detour racked up two million views on TikTok, Endura asked him to follow it up by becoming the face of their new cycling safety campaign, new bike safety campaign, which they say is focused on \u201cencouraging cyclists to wear a helmet and rethink road safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

And to do that, they asked Nathan and his hipster moustache to pretend to crash a bike into a billboard in the hipster paradise that is Shoreditch.<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan\u2019s viral video about his dunk in Regent\u2019s Canal was pure comedy. Still, we couldn\u2019t help but worry for the guy. Not just for his guts afterwards. But he wasn\u2019t wearing a helmet,\u201d Endura said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, Nathan collided with something liquid, not concrete. But it goes to show \u2013 hits happen. And not everyone emerges with nothing worse than soggy clobber.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we figured \u2013 who better to front our campaign about helmet safety? It might not protect you from a wee dip in the wet stuff. But it could save your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Away from their viral clout-chasing ad antics, Endura\u2019s latest helmet safety campaign has, rather inevitably, kicked off another round of cycling\u2019s perennial debate: to helmet or not to helmet. Or, more pertinently, is it up to other people to tell you whether you should wear a helmet?<\/p>\n

Over on Reddit, one user captured what he described as the \u201cworld\u2019s most ironic drive-by\u201d, as he took a photo of Endura\u2019s new ad \u2013 which formed the backdrop to a cyclist riding a Lime bike with, you guessed it, no helmet:<\/p>\n

\"Cyclist<\/p>\n

[SeaworthinessLow1360\/Reddit]<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere was he meant to get one? They don\u2019t come with the bikes you rent,\u201d noted another Reddit user in the comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t think I\u2019ve EVER seen someone wearing a helmet on a Lime bike. But I agree, everyone should,\u201d came one reply.<\/p>\n

However, one cyclist said: \u201cTo be honest, that advert makes me want to not wear a helmet. (I still will though).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho is paying for these ads? The motor industry?\u201d asked GiganticCrow, to which Shoddy Enthusiasm replied: \u201cBig helmet\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning for the Ipswich South seat at the next election,\u201d the Crow joked (now that would be an interesting campaign, for us, anyway).<\/p>\n

\u201cYOU should feel bad,\u201d noted Swy. \u201cAlways wear a helmet when walking. Certainly when driving. All activities with either similar or much high risk of head injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Why is Dan Walker\u2019s claim that a bike helmet saved his life so controversial?<\/a><\/p>\n

Over on Instagram, one cyclist was even angrier with the tone of Endura\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is such blatant dishonesty. Where is this advert posted, so I can complain to the relevant advertising standards organisation?\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo dissembling, answer the questions: Are your helmets rated to protect against traumatic brain injury? Are your helmets rated to protect against collision forces encountered when a rider is struck by a car? What are the testing protocols your helmets undergo and what impact force are they rated to withstand as a result?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, others were baffled that some cyclists \u201cfeel victimised for being encouraged to increase their own safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t even about hate for cyclist,\u201d Ultra said on Reddit. \u201cI\u2019m a cyclist who values his life, so I wear a helmet. If you cycle without one, you\u2019re a melon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, according to Endura, you\u2019re actually a helmet.<\/p>\n