A Commercial a Day – Day 12: Grind Session for Play Station

Grind Session was released for the Play Station (first one) in 2000. This is kind of cheating because it’s a commercial for a skateboarding game, but it’s notable for a couple of reasons. It’s one of the first times someone managed to get something that approached real skateboard culture on TV. Also, it’s probably the first time Black Flag was ever heard on network TV, not counting the background music in the movie Repo Man. But wait, there’s more. Is that a videogame likeness of Pig Pen skating Burnside on national TV?

Grind Session commercial for Play Station

I had to watch this twice to get what was going on. The guilty looking guys lurking behind the car are using red masking tape (?) to paint the curb red. After they get the car towed they magically reappear in full safety gear to skate the stairs that were being blocked by the car. Then we cut again to video game characters without any safety gear whatsoever. Hmmm. Interesting contrast. Obviously Grind Session didn’t sell well enough to warrant a sequel. Good commercial though. Someone name the skaters if you can, please.