Though children are taught to reach for the sky, in time it becomes apparent that jumping out of the sky is more practical. Leap into one of life's timeless lessons with today's Groupon: for $125, you get a tandem skydive from 10,000 feet from Skydive San Diego in Jamul (up to a $209 value).
Skydive San Diego’s USPA-certified instructors whisk thrill-seekers into the sky for exhilarating tandem jumps above gorgeous western scenery. A brief training course outlines skydiving regulations before licensed trainers strap themselves to students with a Sigma Tandem rig. Conjoined twosomes then climb skyward in a Cessna Caravan or DeHavilland Twin Otter spacious enough to stage interventions for geese refusing to migrate. As planes ascend, cloud surfers can gander at a breathtaking spread of landscapes, skimming their eyes over the Pacific Ocean, downtown San Diego, and the Otay Lake reservoir near the skydive facilities. Once achieving a height of 10,000 feet, divers take the plunge and free-fall for approximately a minute. At 5,000 feet, trainers pull parachutes into bloom, and patrons drift back to earth during a five- to seven-minute parachute ride. The eventual touchdown at the verdant jump zone, located on the same grounds as the takeoff site, nabs guests a First Jump certificate and congratulatory smooch from a cloud princess.
The 10,000-foot jumps are scheduled each day at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., though customers hoping to take a later or slightly elevated tumble can pay $40 extra for a 13,000-foot dive. For an additional fee, Skydive San Diego can also affix a video camera to a trainer's wrist, an outside flier's helmet, or a pterodactyl's steadicam crest to document proof of aerial daredevilry.
Groupon Says
The Groupon Guide to: Advertising Soup
In this economy, soup isn’t going to sell itself. Only the perfect commercial is going to get those cans flying off the shelves. But what are the elements of a good soup ad?
The setting can make someone immediately yearn for a bowl of the hot stuff. Good settings include:
• A wealthy person’s farmhouse glowing warmly in a snowy wooded area (farmhouse should show no signs of actual farming)
• A small but cozy shack standing on a craggy cliff over a violent sea
• A bread factory
The main character is the viewer’s connection to the soup. It should be:
• A loving yet endearingly inept dad. He is in decent shape, not too handsome, and wearing a sweater and/or tucked-in collared shirt.
• A Victorian sailor’s wife. She is pale and beautiful, yet jagged. It has been a hard life.
• A bunch of working-class bread-factory guys who are hungry but tired of all this dry bread.
The story of the ad then whips the potential customers into a soup-eating frenzy by depicting:
• The dad’s son playing in the snow. The dad wants his son to love him but he cannot prepare a meal on his own. He makes the son soup, and the two bond over a game of checkers in front of a fireplace. Mom does not interfere.
• The wife gazes longingly at the sea during a windy, daytime rainstorm. She misses her husband’s warm, hearty arms but finds solace in a thick chowder that possesses those same qualities. Just as she finishes her bowl the husband kicks down the door. He has returned from his voyage and he has brought her many exotic hats.
• The bread-factory guys make some soup and have a crazy party wherein they dip the dry crusty breads into the steaming bowls with much joviality and merrymaking. What a day they’ve had.
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