…and the hype, and the sales message oh, and skateboarding.
Nike Skateboarding Nothing but the Truth Premiere
The NikeSB movie has been premiering in various cities, I attended the Portland premiere last Thursday at the Crystal ballroom. Everyone there was either invited or one of Screamin’ Steve’s contest winners. I’m guessing there were 200-300 people there. I wasn’t a VIP so I didn’t get free beer but I did enjoy the outing. It was a big skateboarding related event, a scene, and I saw a bunch of people I knew there. Thanks to Kevin Imamura for getting me on the list.
The movie
With all the advance promotion about how NBTT is more of a movie than the typical skate video, it stuck to the formula. It felt a like the old Powell videos with various skits featuring the skaters but the street sections with quick cuts of riders doing a trick… followed by a shot of another trick, was pretty standard. Nike sponsors a bunch of talented skaters. I never get tired of watching Chet Childress skate and he puts together some great extended runs as well as amazing one-shots. There’s definitely some impressive skating. The crowd seemed to be seeing a lot that I was missing and seemed to be amazed by the tech action. I think it was Omar Salazar’s part that had a Thin Lizzy soundtrack which made all the difference to me as that part seemed to rock harder.
A couple of the skits are pretty funny. One of them reminded me of a certain scene from Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life and had me laughing just as hard.
Hard to imagine how you might create a story from the separate stories of several unrelated personalities with no hierarchy or narrative relationship. So, it’s a skate video with a story about making a skate video woven among the skateboarding parts. I suppose in the end it is a story about the adolescent male condition, today’s sign that the apocalypse is near.
The only women in the film are models and fantasy objects. Nike should probably try to find some women to sponsor. Or women skaters should work on becoming a more lucrative market. I think the deal is that boys are easier to confuse, so they are a better target for marketing efforts.
How did they do? Are they a real skateboarding company? Well it was a skate video. Nike applies massive resources to designing and producing shoes for all kids of athletic activities and skateboarding is an athletic activitiy. They are also a business and their main reason for what they do is return on investement. Skateboarding continues to have a big impact on aesthetics and fashion so companies will be drawn to it as a potential generator of revenue. If you have specific personal aesthetic, philosophic or social requirements that your skateboarding footwear needs to fulfill, they may or may not win your heart and mind or add you to their market share.
I have been skating in Nikes longer that a lot of skaters have been alive and they give me the protection and performance I need. That’s credibility enough for me.
Before you get all worked up about the whole Nike buying it
that sounds so much like a pro-nike propaganda party line.
“we dont give a fuck about you or your “sport”, but at least we are better than big oil.”
nike gave us nothing until they could make money from our sweat and love. business debate or not, they are johnny-come-runnin-to-the-money in skateboarding and everyone’s apathy let them in. who cares if they made shoes for running and basketball for 35 years! seriously, that makes it ok for a megabrand to step in and take food off the table of down soldiers who built this industry? people who live and breathe this shit we call skateboarding? people who hocked their lives for this love? nike made a corporate youth market metric, threw some money around, and blammo! insant cred. if thats ok to anyone who claims to love skateboarding, thats sad. nike paid no dues to anyone, and now since they sponsor some “core” dudes, its suddenly ok? i agree that guys like chet gotta live, and deserve to do well for what they put out there for us to ogle at, but jesus… its still fucking wrong. most of us have little choice in oil consumption, we gotta work, and that takes gas even if you ride the bus…but i can choose to not buy shoes from some mega-giant corporation that only wants our approval to further insinuate itself into a scene it does not belong in and historically has never supported..
so i say fuck nike in the same way i say fuck modular skateparks. they only want to take our money and cut out when it runs dry. i’d bet my life that when all this lame megajumping,boomboom huck,EXPN, big $$ garbage is over…nike will be gone from skateboarding as if they never were here. bet on that shit.
oh…sorry. i just re-read that and its more hostile than intended. i’m in the skating for 20+ years club and goddammit, where was the nike skatepark in 1985? or 1988? 2000? 2005? or EVER? thats what i’m sayin’. not intending to attack conahan at all.i get wound up about the corporate invaders.
I wear Vans, and I love them, but where are all those Vans parks now? They didn’t make enough money so they shut them down. Shoe companies are peripheral to actual skateboarding, it would be like getting mad at Volcom because they started out in snowboarding. It’s just a bunch of noise.
i just don’t like the fact that nike makes shit for all kinds of sports. I know Volcom and quicksilver and shit make stuff for other more closely related sports but I’m not really into them that much either. I just skateboard and don’t want anything to do with any other sports. Some people like to make the argument about the dudes who wore the hi top nikes in the 70’s and stuff but was nike paying any of those guys? were they supporting the sport then? I’m crusty and old and am never going to be into what the mainstream of skateboarding has become. And that to me is the street skaters style and culture. It’s about as foreign to me as hockey. Oh and I’m all for big bad capitalism.
Yeah cap’n no harm no foul. You make a good point. Support skateboarders.
Don
It’s very simple. They make shoes. Other comapnies make shoes. So it comes down to the question of who makes the best shoes suited to the sport in question. Vans oldschool hi-tops look really nice: you look like a skater while wearing them. BUT they suck to skate in. The soles are super thin, guaranteeing heel bruises etc. Padding is nonexistant. Companies like Nike and Adidas have the money to invest in serious R&D, allowing them to put out a technically advanced shoe specifically designed for the rigors of skating. If the prices are the same I am going to pick the shoe that is better to skate in. I’ve been wearing the Adidas Lance Mountain 3.5s to skate in for the past 4 years. They rule, but they don’t make them anymore. My next skate shoe will be a Nike.
I wish neil would use the word plimsouls, instead of shoes he is English and as for uncle Crabby why would he be so pissed (u.s. version of the word “pissed”) his stupid pools should have more room in them for kickturn practice or slides practice. Finally mark I bet you used the highest quality paint on your on your godamged fender on your truck. For your info vans was way into B.M.X. before anything else
i get whatever is on the discount rack, cause there are no shoes, skate or otherwise, that truly last after several knee slides in the deep bowl.
aren’t ALL shoes (pretty much) imported from some other third world country besides the states?
is the tv you will be watching the video on made in america? is your ipod? are your t-shirts? are your children’s lead-painted toys? is your dollar store toothpaste? is your dog food? is anything besides maybe your board?
the fact is, not supporting nike for the reason they are made in sweat shops won’t get you anywhere, unless everyone makes a concerted effort not to buy anything imported. will that happen? no, not until…well, probably never.
white man’s weakness=cheap labor. get used to it, while you watch the land of the free become another third world country.
oh yes, vote giuliani.
My iPod was made in Singapore. My iMac was made in Ireland. My kids were made upstairs in my bedroom in Portland Or.
ack… the corpo/anti-corpo debate.
If you don’t like brand “X” then don’t buy brand “X”. Nobody is holding a gun to your head for cryin’ out loud.
If you REALLY don’t like brand “X” then by all means boycott them entirely and don’t forget to avoid being in the near vacinity of any exxxxxtreeeeme scooterboarding parks that they donated funds to.
There are other, more productive ways to fight the man than worry about what kind of footwear another skater is sporting.
It’s just shoes people…
And I love it when I see people riding Pier park with their “Don’t do it” t-shirts…Guess who gave quite a bit of $$$ to build that park? Go back to Burnside if you hate Nike so much.
I wish I could have been at the movie showing. Was it any good Mark?
I had a Brand X skateboard.
hey there buzz bu8cket…you seem to mistakenly assume im a pad warrior bowl barney. you are mistaken. kickturns and slides? i dont even own pads or a helmet and i got a waaay deeper bag than that, tranny or street.. as if that matters. only fun matters. i may be old-ish but i still charge, my opinion comes solely from me caring about the state of skateboarding, and sincerely wishing it would die again. im not into sharing the most important thing i have ever known with image kooks and money driven fiends that dont get it, but want to be ballers in our game.. it’s not just shoes to me… its like decorating my house. im gonna be choosy and stick with what feels right. for me nike just doesnt feel right. what little (pier)they give back is so marginal compared to what they have taken/borrowed/stole from what we are and capitalized on to make mega millions. where were you in ’90 when everyone hated us? did you skate? were you out of elementary school yet? ever had a beer bottle of piss jack you in the head from a moving car for riding a skateboard? ever had your ass kicked for the same? probably not… so shut up yo face, you dont know shit. son, my dues are paid, and i’ll pay many more, gladly.
while wearing anything but nike’s.
and for the record..volcom was a gift company for some rich kids who didnt really build shit on their own. a free ride. fuck them too. end rant, and out.
NikeSB is a program that totally excludes blade/bikes/kooks like crabby who just like to hear their own voice.
Nike only sells said shoes in core shops free of wakeboards/snowboards/inline/ etc.
NikeSB employees are all skateboarders.
NikeSB gives total creative control to its riders. No pressure to hardflip a 20set.
NikeSB pros are all rich.
Every other company markets to and supports bikes in skateparks. More extreme sportsman = $$$$, sucka.
SB is one of the few companies that is actually protecting skateboarding’s values. Put your favorite company to the same test.
big hugs
I accidentally deleted a couple of comments: I’ll try to recreate the sentiment here: It said fuck Nike and pads and perhaps we ought to all wear full face helemets and suggested that the commentors or perhaps the authors of this post were goons to a man and that you could find the fellow at burnside, you betcha. He also was posting from a profanely named domain.
Please people, keep your chimpanzees and febrile 12 year olds away from the keyboard while signed on to SnA.
My first board was a Brand X too. It was stolen…by someone that works for Nike…j/k.
I believe the reason Nike are targetted (in terms of alleged sweat shops/ unfair labor practice/ ott marketing / exploitation of yuoth culture etc) is b/c they are the industry leader not b/c they are the only ones doing it. I don’t think people are under the illusion that Vans or whoever are any better but if you want to advocate for change, whether its fair labor, out-sourcing labor to Asia or within advertising/ marketing practices, then go after the leaders of the industry. Brand loyalty is pretty stupid, whether its Nike or Vox, unless its your mate doing it himself in his basement, in my opinion.
But Nike, have indeed succeeded in winning over skateboarders. Sick team, great shoes and a convincing image but its still nothing I want a part of. If a friend of mine was making shitty shoes in his basement, I just might let my feet suffer rather than cushion them in some lovely Nikes or Vans b/c it pisses me off everytime I buy a pair of shoes knowing just what the wider political implications of our consumption choices are. It is the same reason I would buy a Cold War deck instead of a World Indusries deck even if the quality was lacking…
Anyway, in case anyone is interested I wrote a little piece about Nike and skateboarding some while ago… I’d like to think its not just a mindless mis-directed pointless FTW hate-piece.
http://foulweather.blogspot.com/2006/09/another-20-down.html
Oh I still can’t wait to see Brian Anderson’s, Chet’s and Omar’s parts but I’ll wait until Copeland’s has a copy so I can steal it…
Nike isn’t the only one exploiting overseas labor, youth labor, sweatshops, etc. When I buy a $10 hoodie at Walmart, I know it was probably made in Singapore by an 8 year old. The difference is that Nike charges $70 for kicks it cost them $5 to make. In a sense, globalization is good for the poverty gap and difference in standard of living between industrialized and developing nations, as things become more affordable. The bastards that exploit these labors and charge an outlandish amount for profit to expand the economic gap are the root of the issue. It remains ideal for people to produce, trade, and buy locally and build a strong community-based economy, but in the current economic shithole, it’s very unrealistic for many who have to choose between $3 for a can of organic soup or 3 cheeseburgers at McDonalds to feed themselves and their two kids.
Very true. It is a luxury to be able to afford, more ‘politcally correct’ goods but it shouldn’t be. At the same time its all about priorities. If buying a fair trade, sweat shop free, hoodie means no beer for a week, so be it.
I don’t go much anymore but Buffalo Exchange used to be well stocked in good condition used Savier/Nikes… a good compromise.
I’ve been skating in Nikes since the first pair of Sbs! I actually saw clips of the movie on youtube and found some part hilarious… I have to find a way to watch the whole thing
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I had to approve the previous comment (after taking out the web link to pron.) It was too funny to delete.
lol! all your skate are belong to us.
Screw skate shoes! I’m riding barefoot from now on.
Gorilla grip airs in the deep end.
Im so core now that I duct tape my feet when shredding.
Hello Everyone
I just became a member of this forum
Great job forum crew!
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orbibHoutty
might wanna beef up that spam filter again…
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