I found these the other day and I had a mixed bag of feelings about this. Am I thankful that the product guys (and marketers) thought to build specific asian-fit snow goggles? Or am I repulsed because I’m being called out as being different?
Or am I just being overly-sensitive?
One of the critical components of ministry online is making the contextual environment and messaging appropriate. Sometimes, though, I think we tend to overdo it. Perhaps we can even go too far as to offend (which is never the goal, of course).
Are we being smart about our online strategies and contextualization? Are we doing it right?
Oh, and if you want a pair (and you’re asian) go here. Thanks Oakley (I think?).
haemin says
what does 'asian fit' mean? like, designed for a smaller nose bridge? i'm curious as to what they feel like.
jojoagot says
yeah, the smaller nose bridge and the shape of the head. im asian, i find european and american products too big for me. the thing is that most american products in our country are not tailored for asian size. i don't know if they simply overlooked this or maybe they just didn't do enough market research.
oh and about the topic on contextualization, i think there is no limit to it as long as you don't water down the message. Paul himself contextualized his message in athens (acts 17) to get the attention of the intellectual greeks. he even used the AGNOS THEO altar to make an entry point for the gospel but a careful study would show that his message was the same, only the presentation was different.
joannamuses says
I feel your pain in regards to sizing. I'm a "plus size" Caucasian living in Asia. Some extra large sizes here would pass as a small back home.
klreed189 says
What is the line on your target audience?
Obviously Oakley was targeting asians in their market strategy because they wanted to make more money and realized that this type of product was not on the market.
I think the same can be said about online marketing and blogging. You saw a need and realized that their was nothing out there for church tech crunch so you got your target audience and capitalized. Now this is not offensive in what you are doing, but you have a strategy right? You are targeting a certain market and leaving others out. This might be a stretch, but i think that is what Oakley was doing.
I know for me as I start another project up I am doing research for a niche market trying to figure out what they are going to be interested in. I am trying not to box that market in, I am trying to be open and have no assumptions. I think that is something we can take with us inside the church, instead of thinking we have people and the "market" figured out, we can have the approach of being honest and open. Often times I think we box them in and the message is diluted, like the snow goggles.
yooper1714 says
Ya know John, it is always difficult to be a forerunner and a voice into an already structured system. There is a cost if you're going to open your mouth, you see that from beginning to end in the Bible. John the Baptist was a "voice crying out in the wilderness" and his head ended up on a platter.
In today's culture you can either pick fame and popularity or you can pick passion and truth. One will get you everywhere and the other will get you where God wants you to be.
One thing I forgot to tell you in my email to you yesterday is that I only like to connect to real people. Thank God that He has formed you to be real and not some fake person trying to build his own ministry. We have enough of those people in the church already. Keep on doing what God has called you to do.
Anyway, have a great week, I know it is a busy one for you. ~Ben
human3rror says
๐ thanks bro.
Jim says
all this to say that I need a special football helmet in high school since my head was larger than the rest….the Bike helmet manufacturers got some cool pump pads for me…
stephenbateman says
It feels gimmicky.
LayGuy says
Right now I'm thinking…"OK this guy represents the church and technology" and I'm also thinking that your views are your views and shouldn't be thrown onto the church at large. Would be good if you kept posts like these refined to your human error blog instead as this has absolutely nothing to do with contextualisation.
joannamuses says
I'm not sure i understand what the problem is here. Everybody who blogs (or preaches or writes..) is to some extent sharing their views. What he has posted doesn't seem to be done obnoxiously in any way i can spot to justify a critique that he's throwing his views onto the church. Maybe the glasses bit is a little off topic but the point about contextualization is an important thing to consider for anyone producing Christian content.
LayGuy says
Not saying its obnoxious – just saying it has nothing to do with the contextualisation discussions happening these days. And not saying that there is anything wrong with the post. Just suggesting that this kind of post would probably sit better on John's personal blog instead of here. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it – and the comments. Just don't feel it fits in the context of this blog.
LayGuy says
BTW – I really enjoy your blogs. ๐
joannamuses says
Thanks ๐