Cedar Fair: The Fun & Only

[The Interpreter]

If you think FUN values attendance above all, you'd be wrong. Particularly right now, profitability is far more important than attendance. One can generate great attendance by lowering prices...See what would happen at Kings Island on a "Bring A Friend Free" day or if they dropped admission to $4.99 per person, for example.

[Diamondback96]

Here's another CP commercial and the (very cheesy) KI one advertising season passes:

[DropZone99]

As much as I hate the slogan "The Fun and Only", EVERYTIME I go to Kings Island (this year) I just randomly start singing "This place-has got it all, Kings Island-the fun and only!" And I don't even realize I'm doing it.... Just ask Zach or Mitchell.

[CincyMan98]

Ceeeeedar Pooooint, The Fun and Only.

Hmph

[The Interpreter]

It's also the tagline on Cedar Point's season pass sales billboards on US 250 just south of the point...

[Beast1979]

I wish that they'd stop marketing exclusivity, especially if they're going to use that exclusivity slogan at all of the parks in the chain. It comes off as almost arrogant to me when Kings Island tries to say they're the "Fun and Only" when Cedar Point, just 4 hours north, a park to which many people in Cincinnati have been to, says they're the "Fun and Only". Plus it shows a supreme lack of creativity. Why can't they do something that describes the park, like "Do it all!" or "The Best in Hollywood Entertainment - Now Playing"? That seems to make a lot more sense to me.

[PhantomTheater]

Here's another CP commercial and the (very cheesy) KI one advertising season passes:

The shot of Dragster is from 2003, the wheels are still on the train.

[KI FANATIC 37]

First of all, I think you are reading way too much into this. I highly doubt it means that they are decreasing KI`s advertising reach. Rather, because CP has a new multi-million attraction this year, they may be marketing it more in new markets to try and drive business. And remember, that Cedar Point is only one source of revenue up in Sandusky. They have hotels up there that also account for additional revenue, beyond just the park.

Completely agree! I live on WV an I never got KI commercials. But during the 09 season I got a ridiculous amount of DB commercials. Just like CoastersRZ said, it's just because they got a multi-million dollar ride. Of course this is just what I think.

[sheikra_rocks]

"Kings Island, the Fun and Only" just rolls of the tongue though.

We were just singing that last night on the ride home from Cedar Point. We used just about every theme park name we could come up with....LOL

[coaster_junky]

Here's another CP commercial and the (very cheesy) KI one advertising season passes:

The shot of Dragster is from 2003, the wheels are still on the train.

... and the shot of hotel breakers is from before that, top thrill dragster isn't even in that shot.

[gigacoaster2k]

At CP on Saturday, some of the ride ops on several rides were saying "Enjoy the rest of your day at Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast.. RIDE ON!" The guests getting off the trains would yell "RIDE ON!!" right after the ride ops did. Apparently nobody likes the new slogan.

[KI Kevin]

I heard "Have a good day at Cedar Point, America's Rockin' Fun and Only"

[CedarPointer]

"This place... has got it all... Cali-forn-ia's-Great-A-mer-i-ca the fun and only!"

[coaster_junky]

^i didn't know the chipmunks were singing the names of the amusement parks now.

[Diamondback96]

The newest KI commercial.

[CincyMan98]

When I was at KI, they did double duty. (Uhh what?) Anyways, after The Beast, they said "Have a nice day at Kings Island, The Fun And Only. Where Else?"

[CincyMan98]

The newest KI commercial.

Sorry for double post but; come on. Again. Showing rides that aren't even at KI. How much cheaper can they get? Oh well .

[EssentiallyCoaster]

I count 5 not from KI. Theres also at least 5 not pictures from KI. Something tells me Cedar Fair PR is getting Lazy.

[RingMaster]

Well, during the Paramount reign, they would show a few rides not from Kings Island (most notably, Afterburn at Carowinds) during their commercials, and the 'Best of Hollywood Entertainment...Now Playing' slogan was used for all of their parks and marketed almost exactly the same.

So I guess what I'm saying is that if you're under a chain, you're pretty much going to be marketed almost the exact same way as your sister park on the other side of the country (or on the opposite end of the sate), even if several parks are completely different when it comes to its layout and offering of rides. Heck, even the Busch Gardens parks are mashed together in their national commercials.*

But I will agree on them using their 'Fun and Only' slogan for all of their parks. That slogan is meant for only a single park simply because the word 'Only' is used. The fact that another park has the exact same slogan (or, for that matter, every park in the chain) negates the exclusivity that one park had using that particular slogan and makes it sound as if they are owned by some big corporation that doesn't know how to market individual parks in their chain and assume that grouping them together and slapping any slogan on them will work, when, in reality, will just confuse those who go park hopping yet aren't enthusiasts.

*This also goes for Cedar Fair's Halloween events; each of their events save for one is named Halloween Haunt. Including those that weren't originally named or marketed with the others (most specifically, ValleySCARE at Valleyfair and Scarowinds at Carowinds). Also, each and every one of the Haunts save for one is marketed the exact same way "with more blood, terror, and gore than ever before" (Cedar Point has "more madness, terror, and mayhem than ever before" in theirs instead, which goes along with the idea that HalloWeekends is a dumbed-down event compared to KBF's Haunt).

[jzarley]

I really don't mind the "the fun & only" campaign. Actually, I think the tune is pretty catchy, and the commercials are fun. (It sort of reminds me of CP's "music video" campaign a few years ago...)

However, being in the Columbus market, we have commercials for both CP and KI and I've found that I can't tell which park the commercial is for until the name of the park is said! (That's especially true for the radio commercials.) So, in a shared media market like this they're creating very little distinction between the two parks. I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's interesting...

Obviously, park marketing has little affect on people like us (enthusiasts), because we'll visit the parks regardless of the advertising. But, I have to wonder if identical advertising for two parks in the same market area causes confusion among the GP? (A majority of whom, I would guess, don't understand--or even care about--the current corporate structure of the parks.) In Ohio there's always been a CP vs. KI vibe--your family was in one camp or the other. (Granted, most of that was encouraged by the parks themselves.) So, how confusing is it to the GP now when the parks are marketed in identical ways?

Or, does it even matter?

(Sorry for all the deep philosophical questions on a Monday morning )

[cholderfield]

I think you bring up a really good point. I live in the Columbus area as well, and it is kind of funny to hear commercials that sound and look exactly the same advertising two different parks. There's a lot of people who still don't even know that Cedar Fair owns Kings Island....(and some don't know of a company called "Cedar Fair"). I do like the commercials more than I thought I would, I've been hearing them A LOT on the radio in the past week or so.

[The Interpreter]

There are advantages/disadvantages to listening to Sirius XM as one's sole radio provider (and to not watching television). Unless an ad is posted here, I am very unlikely to see/hear it. I doubt I am alone in this regard.

[shark6495]

There are advantages/disadvantages to listening to Sirius XM as one's sole radio provider (and to not watching television). Unless an ad is posted here, I am very unlikely to see/hear it. I doubt I am alone in this regard.

as a former radio guy I am slightly disappointed in this statement

[The Interpreter]

Oh, trust me...it bothers me, too. But it is what it is, and a lot of why it is lies with the Mays and Michaels families, Clear Channel, etc. Siriusly.

[CoastersRZ]

Now that was a great pun!

[The Interpreter]

Oh, there was more than one...

Clear Channel, not Jacor by any extent...who once owned THE BIG ONE...

[shark6495]

who is a clear channel station but in another way....

[The Interpreter]

...and the other.

[Chris!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySw3JyJK-bQ

Looks like they've added these commercials in addition to the "Fun & Only" ones. Also funny how throughout the entire commercial, only 3 rides are shown from the actual park.