Dong copter1/9/2023 ![]() In coverage by the Associated Press (itself run by the Washington Post ), as well as Vice and the Albuquerque Journal, we get quotes from Gonzalez, who attempted to pin the whole incident on the campaign of sitting mayor Tim Keller, but very little from the people behind the drone itself. The gimmick worked! Well, the half-cocked gimmick did half of what it needed to do. ![]() The GoFundMe set for Dryer’s legal defense notes that the device is an “expensive drone with a rainbow colored, paper-stuffed, sock with googly eyes attached to it.” Dryer called Gonzalez a “tyrant” in the action. Kaelen Dryer, who can be seen in the video attempting to retrieve the drone and swinging his arms, has been charged with petty misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor resisting, evading or obstructing an office, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The rainbow-colored pantyhose, with googly eyes on the tip, was stuffed with paper. While there are some drones that can carry a couple pounds easily, the 10-ounce drone used here is smaller than all that, and besides, on close look it’s clearly only an imitation of a dildo. What makes a gimmick drone is that it’s not particularly good at the task. (A lot of the early gimmicks were delivery based).ĭildo drones also made their first appearance in this era, as activists in Russia adapted the technique of “pelting a politician with dildos” pioneered in New Zealand into “putting drone parts inside a dildo and flying it at politicians.” ![]() We’re well past the early 2013-2015 heyday of Gimmick Drones, when I could reliably get a story a week about some company using a DJI Phantom quadcopter to deliver dry cleaning, or drop beers to concert-goers, or dropping hamburgers on (to?) unhoused people. The dongcopter, as it’s been named by the self-proclaimed DongCopter505 account, is a prime Gimmick Drone. (Normally you can find my writing about both at Wars of Future Past ). It is a story at the precise intersection of two of my favorite things: talking too much about drones and talking too much about Albuquerque. The drone and accompanying protuberance made national news. The copter, a toy model I couldn’t make out in the video, buzzed into action in the middle of a speech by Manuel Gonzales III, a conservative Democrat running in the city’s fall election. With a gentle sway and the appearance of some substantial heft, a gimmick drone flew into the Albuquerque mayoral race on June 1.
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