Aero, a candy bar brand popular in the UK, filmed an commercial spot with Bob Burnquist skating at the Lake Cunningham skate park with the bowls filled with brown balloons to resemble the bubbles in the chocolate. It looks great, trouble is, it’s an exact copy of the same concept that was actually shot here in at Portland’s D.O.S.. Ignorance is going to be hard to claim, considering Apple Computer is currently showing the original video in some of their in-store loops for Apple TV. Of course there is a chance that the originators might be getting paid too. Watch the video after the jump. UPDATE: Added for making of interviews. [Source: Brand Republic] – Thanks to Aaron Shims for the tip.

The best thing about this 1985 commercial for Mountain Dew is the overlay that says “NOT FOR AIR.” A coincidence, of course, but still funny. That means this was probably digitized from an ad agency reference tape. I don’t recall ever seeing this on TV, but perhaps it did. I see Tony Hawk in there, as well as a Madrid freestyler.. Bob Schmelzer? Who is doingthe sliding and wearing the cowboy hat? I leave it to you to fill in the blanks. I know the first thing I think of when I hear the word “country” is a bunch of good old boys street skating down the gravel roads. Yee haw! [Source: Heavyset]

A car company in Spain called SEAT (?) is celebrating the 25th anniversary of a car called the Ibiza. They are promoting it with a commercial featuring a lot of skateboarding and the now ubiquitous Alphaville song “Forever Young.” They’ve got a very loose interpretation of a skateboarding timeline as the backdrop. is SEAT spanish for Mazda? Check it out after the jump. Thanks to Dean Tyrell for the tip. His friend Jairo Garcia is one of the skaters in the ad.

Pepsi ran a commercial during the Superbowl that featured a littel bit of skating and surfing. The idea was to contrast the old days and modern takes on different phenomenon. I think there’s even some footage of Gumby on skateboard. I know there is old and more recent episodes of Gumby riding a skateboard. It’s hard to tell because it looks like it’s been cropped at his front ankle.

Here’s a short webvert with a skateboard theme for an unlikely business. I don’t wan to spoil the surprise, so check it out after the jump.

So we got mentioned on the SkateDaily Top 3. This time the list is for the top three web sites dedicated to old school. It’s a mixed blessing, because the publicity is great, but I hate being pigeonholed. I’ve been trying to expand our appeal since forever. Trouble is, old guys write about what they know, I guess. Check out who submitted it though, could that really be the Lonnie Toft? Speaking of old school, does the name Buddy Carr ring a bell? It’s a name that has been pretty much synonymous with Tracker Trucks since… yes, forever. Well Buddy has decided to join up with Bennett Truks in a move that would be earthshaking if it were say, 1979. I always wanted to try some Bennet Truks, but guys seriously, this brings up one of my pet peeves in the skateboarding industry: The logo should add “with a decade or two of abstinence” next to the “Established in 1975” tagline. I’m thinking of you too, Shut Skates. Regardless, you can read the press release on Silverfish or watch a somewhat recent video interview with Buddy Carr giving a tour of the Tracker factory, made by the (old school) German…

First up, Mark Gonzales in a Nissan commercial. Funny thing is, when I saw this commercial the very first time I kept expecting a skateboard, but it never materialized. Something about the commercial exuded a skateboarding vibe, or a similar sense of fun. I didn’t recognize the Gonz the first time because he was completely out of context, and quite frankly I didn’t pay attention to it after the first viewing. That thirty second commercial skip button is great. Watch the spot after the jump. – Thanks to Seth Berg for the tip. Next up, not one, but two Stacy Peralta items. Did you know he was the one who made the Burger King commercial titled “Whopper Virgins?” Well, neither did I, but Fuel TV did. They implied that the skateboarding community might have something to say about it, Im not sure why though, because he was a filmmaker hired to do a job, not a guy appearing as a skateboarder in a commercial for say… a video game.

Tony Hawk makes an appearance in this commercial for Guitar Hero World Tour. It has been suggested that this should be embarrassing for him, let’s see if we can dissect that theory. It could be embarrassing because Rock Band is obviously the better fake musical instrument game. Or maybe because Tony is the only sports celebrity in the commercial who has to drag along the trappings of the sport that made him famous. You don’t see Kobe with a basketball, Michael Phelps in speedo, or that other dude with whatever makes him famous, but for some reason Tony appears on a skateboard and in helmet, no less. It could be embarrassing because of the homoerotic implementations of four dudes dancing around together in their underwear. I’m sure he’s embarassed all the way to the bank though… Watch the commercial after the jump. – Thanks to… crud, can’t find the email, but thanks.

Motion Theory is a motion graphics studio that has done a lot of work you’ve probably seen, like the HP ad for Pharrell (hi res here) that also features skateboarding. They did a short ID piece for ESPN on Evolution, specifically the evolution of skateboarding. Apparently, it aired during the Superbowl, but which one? You can watch it and download it from the Motion Theory site. I wonder if they will notice a bandwith spike? As far as the animation goes, it’s fun to watch. As far as the evolution of skateboarding goes, it stops with what mainstream skaters consider the dodo birds of skateboarding, AKA the vert ramp riders – but I’m sure that’s what the client wanted. – Thanks (again) to Livmo for the tip. yeah, it’s going to be that kind of day.

Gotta love infotainment graphics. This one is from the Denver Post article on William Spencer. Reminds me of several things. I think a good fake job for a character in a book or movie would be dental animation specialist – or someone who makes a living modeling 3d computer graphics of mouths and teeth for toothpaste and mouthwash commercials. We’ve covered this guy before, but now there’s newer footage. Supposedly, Spencer stunt doubled Orlando Bloom in a Japanese hair care commercial.