Beckham is known for his precision in kicking. It's his whole thing.
Beckham actually did hit the trash cans in practice kicks; this happened on a public beach and there were plenty of fans hanging around watching it happen.
That being said, it would have required an alteration of the laws of physics to land a soccer ball in the trash can as the diameter of the opening of most beach trash cans of that style in the LA area is smaller than the diameter of a soccer ball. (There are several styles of trash cans on LA area beaches. Several of them have capped/shielded openings; some of their are just uncapped basic cylinders, and others are cylinders with lids and narrow openings. The purpose of the caps/narrow openings is to limit the ability of wildlife like seagulls from getting at the trash. Generally, the uncapped basic trash cans are limited to more popular beaches where the trash cans will be emptied daily.)
No sure why you are downvoted. I can easily see Beckham hitting a 3 of them in a row with some practice shots. Fairly big targets. Getting ball into the can is impossible (he would have to try a lot of time, 3x in a row probably statistically impossible).
People on HN like to pretend that non-tech people couldn't possibly be good at doing things that techies aren't. Most techies couldn't kick a soccer ball that far, let alone come close to hitting a target that far away, so they assume the very idea is impossible.
Those who actually watched Beckham play (in Europe, or even during his retirement era in Los Angeles) knew what he was capable of[1], and that's why the general public was willing to believe this ad could have been true when it was released: because Beckham could easily have hit a target that big and that far away, and it wasn't much of a stretch to believe he could land a ball inside a trashcan with practice.
[1] Beckham was a free kick specialist, and is regarded as the best free kicker of all time. The movie "Bend It Like Beckham" derives its title from his legendary skill.
No, it's a combination of (1) we don't see everything (or even 10%) of what gets posted, and (2) most people underestimate their own provocations and overestimate the provocations that come from others (by a good 10x), so it always feels like the other person started it and did worse.
Thanks for the explanation and for the detailed responses in the links.
I agree with them, but what ends up occurring is similar to situations in schoolyards where a bully who starts a confrontation isn’t punished, but the person who fights back is punished because it’s the person who fights back that causes a scene.
I will reach out you via email to delete my account.
I think this is a repetition of the same phenomenon. No one looks upon themselves as the bully or the person who started it. That's always the other person.
Beckham actually did hit the trash cans in practice kicks; this happened on a public beach and there were plenty of fans hanging around watching it happen.
That being said, it would have required an alteration of the laws of physics to land a soccer ball in the trash can as the diameter of the opening of most beach trash cans of that style in the LA area is smaller than the diameter of a soccer ball. (There are several styles of trash cans on LA area beaches. Several of them have capped/shielded openings; some of their are just uncapped basic cylinders, and others are cylinders with lids and narrow openings. The purpose of the caps/narrow openings is to limit the ability of wildlife like seagulls from getting at the trash. Generally, the uncapped basic trash cans are limited to more popular beaches where the trash cans will be emptied daily.)