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Deal or No Deal Scouter


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Just wanting to know how others felt about appearance of a Texas Scoutmaster on Deal or No Deal show. My own opinions are that it was great that a fellow scouter won some big money; however, I am very protective of the BSA uniform. Not that it shouldn't have been worn on a television show, but that if worn, it should have met the uniforming standards. I was speechless when I saw his badge of office sewn on the pocket for temporary patches.

 

To my knowledge, national has been very protective of when and where the uniform appeared in the entertainment media. There have been a lot of use of "look-alike" uniform types that portray scouting uniforms. I am curious if his council had given their permission to use the uniform. And if so, why they didn't make sure it was accurate. I don't want to sound like I'm locked onto this one gentleman. Improper uniforming is a widespread problem that training doesn't seem to help with much.

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Welcome to the Forums.

 

Never mind the uniform. Shows like this or "Survivor" to me are nearly the height of selfishness.

 

OTOH, were I to see a Troop giving service hours laying sod or putting in plants for Extreme Makeover, Home Edition... that would be closer to honoring our Oath and Law.

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Scouting may benefit somewhere down the line. But if I don the uniform, then I'm representing the BSA, period. The only reason that I brought this up was because there are so very few times that the BSA uniform is shown on prime time, it should have had the proper patches in the correct locations.

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Was that guy actually a Scoutmaster? I was flipping through the channels & saw that! If the guy acted with dignity & didn't make a total a** of himself, it should be good PR for Scouting!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

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I didn't see the show, nor do I watch Deal or No Deal other times...but, to be fair, I could see a scenario where the show's producers may not only have encouraged him to wear a uniform but also to move the patch to the pocket so that it might be more visible to a viewing audience.

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Okay that's a likely scenario but unless he had a waiver from National to do so, what is he teaching his Scouts by moving the patch to an improper location?

 

Character question that happens to conflate with a UP issue - I'm not normally associated with the UP, although I am working to get my Troop into better uniforming habits...

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Talking about where a patch was located, come on guys did you SEE the scout uniforms the girls were wearing? I doubt anyone really noticed or cared what a chubby scouter was wearing or how he was wearing it, come back to reality people, lol.

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Yes, my eyes were not on the uniform the SM was wearing. :p

 

From: http://www.boyscouttrail.com/scoutmastermusings.asp

 

Deal or No Deal Scoutmaster

Scoutmaster Adam Hansen of Troop 421 chartered to the LDS - San Antonio 8th Ward - North Stake won over $250K on Deal or No Deal tonight. Congratulations to Mr. Hansen on his winnings!

 

The show seemed interesting enough for me to watch when I happened to see a preview showing a man in a scouting uniform. Mr. Hansen seems like a nice guy and wound up doing very well on the show as far as stopping at the best time, taking the money, and getting out.

 

I was very surprised when the MC, Howie Mandel, challenged Mr. Hansen to wear his scoutermaster uniform to continue the game and he came back after the break with it on. From the insignia, it appears to be his official uniform - red shoulder loops, World Scouting emblem, US Flag, "Boy Scout of America" over the pocket, Alamo Area Council shoulder patch, and 421 troop numerals. It even had a BSA neckerchief slide. So, I figure it's really his uniform.

 

So, why the surprise? Well, the BSA policy on wearing the uniform goes something like this:

 

Wear the uniform for Scouting activities and events. "Deal or No Deal" is hardly that.

Scout uniforms are not worn to political events or rallies, protests or demonstrations where its appearance could reasonably be used to imply BSA support for a particular political cause or candidate. I guess "Deal or No Deal" isn't political.

Uniforms are not used to promote a commercial product or business except as approved by the National Executive Board. Hmmmmm.

 

 

Did this scouter get approval from the BSA to wear his uniform in the hopes of getting Scouting out in front of the public? The show was filmed in California and he came all the way from Texas, so I don't think the uniform was a surprise to him - it was probably brought along on the plane. Did he just collaborate with the show's producers and they came up with all this Scouting theme, or were higher-up BSA folks involved?

 

With the marketing drive going on for the upcoming 100th Anniversary, I wonder if we'll be seeing more 'exposure' like this to get Scouting out to the masses. If this wasn't planned by the BSA, I wonder if any reprimand will be waiting for that scoutmaster when he gets home. With $260K+, he probably doesn't care too much, but it would be interesting to hear.

 

As you can see in the picture, the models were also dressed up in scout-wannabe outfits. If you look closely, you can see that they are not official uniform pieces at all. There were no emblems except for the troop emlems which matched each girl's suitcase number which I thought was clever.

 

I did notice that the scoutmaster patch on the contestant's uniform was sewn onto his right pocket instead of on his sleeve - weird. I've never seen that one before.

 

One thing that did bother me watching the show was continually mentioning "for the boys" as if the contestant was raising money for his troop. I believe the MC, the contestant, his wife and brothers, and even a model used the term. But, when discussing uses for the money, all I heard was "new house". Well, maybe the scouts will get new tents or something cool.

 

Okay, back to me again (acco40). For another opinion ...

 

From the Hear of Virginia Council

Contributed by Todd Martin

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

 

Deal or No Deal television game show

 

On June 11, NBC's game show Deal or No Deal will feature a Scoutmaster from the Alamo Area Council in San Antonio as a contestant. Deal or No Deal producers contacted the national office a few weeks ago to notify us they had independently selected a BSA volunteer as a contestant and to ask for ways to include BSA marks and logos in the production.

 

In keeping with their show format, which includes relevant themes, the show encouraged the Scoutmaster to wear his field uniform during the show. Also, they discussed using BSA uniforms for wardrobe of the shows female models. Throughout the process, creative license was not in our control and we discouraged the use of uniform pieces in this manner.

 

Despite the show's decision to use uniforms in this manner, overall we appreciate the positive opportunity for a BSA volunteer to participate in this popular show. The producer of this episode is a Life Scout and member of the Order of the Arrow. He indicated they desired to produce a show that was positive for both NBC and for Scouting.

 

If you have questions contact Brad Nesheim at 804-204-2611.(This message has been edited by acco40)

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"OTOH, were I to see a Troop giving service hours laying sod or putting in plants for Extreme Makeover, Home Edition... that would be closer to honoring our Oath and Law. "

 

Interesting that you should say this. When they were in Louisville, one of the coordinators for the builder was the scoutmaster of our Troop. He got the troop to help out there.

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