It burns me up when people get these uploaded to YouTube before I’ve even seen them. This commercial for the 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee features Mike McGill as skater dad. Pretty good concept, one very similar to what I gave to MC as an idea for one of his comics. This was uploaded by an actual Jeep dealer. If someone happens to capture this or can tell me on what network and show it aired, drop me a line. I need the high res version for the museum. – Thanks to Andrew Wahl for the tip.

Chris Nieratko has a pretty interesting article on ESPN about how economic woes are affecting the skateboard industry. He talks to pros, business owners and former pros turned industry honchos. It’s a quick read sprinkled with a healthy dose of gratuitous skate shots, so so check it out. – Thanks to Michael Brooke for the tip.

I know nothing about Machotaildrop. At first I thought I was watching a parody of an indy film mashup by Michel Gondry, Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze. If your going to be influenced by someone, that’s a good crowd to choose from, although it could all go horribly wrong. Then it started looking expensive, so I thought it might be real. The project exists on IMDB, so I’m inclined to believe it is real. There’s an official web site, Machotaildrop.com, but it appears to be broken or at best, poorly thought out. Check out the trailer. This could be the first movie with skateboarding as a major plot device that isn’t unintentionally funny. Check the trailer after the jump. Keep your eyes peeled for pro skaters and unless I’m mistaken, an homage to a famous scene in Thrashin’. UPDATE: Just found and added a sneak peak of the film. UPDATE 2: Added link to another interview with the writer/director team and a behind the scenes video. – Thanks to JF for the tip.

This 1978 Pepsi commercial has everything; street skating (well, sidewalks), a dog on a longboard, hockey helmets, gorilla gips, flyouts, freestyle, soft volleyball kneepads, skateparks and more. Watch the video, courtesy of skate and surf film historian Scott Starr, after the jump.

Who knew Skateboarder had so many subscriptions? I always forget they are still publishing. What’s that? Right. This post title is from the latest Transworld Skateboarding sales pitch. If you’re selling a product, they want your advertising dollars. Key selling points: We know that there are a lot of options out there, most of which are new to the game yet claim to be everything skateboarding, but skateboarding is much more than footage filmed in a warehouse, or focus on the so-called core or elitist scene. Skateboarding has moved way beyond those walls, and TWS covers the gamut.

The box says “Skate Pocket” but the cookie and the graphics say snowboard. Someone forgot to tell the art director about the wheels. Head on over to Sa ka roulé for larger pics and a bonus shot of some other choco mix drink that isn’t this one.

Chinese candy with skateboard packaging. You can’t buy them directly, you have to contact a guy and arrange to import them. Oh cruel importers. How you tease me. If anyone sees these in the wild, pick one up for me would ya? I have a dietary deficiency in lead and melamine. These ducks look like Elmer Fudd.

You can get skateboard checks, check covers, calling cards and address labels from an outfit called Styles Check Company: No obstacle is too great. No trick is too extreme. You’ll rattle the competition with these edgy, action-packed designs. These single or duplicate checks show 4 different skate decks that are sure to showcase your own style. Rattle the competition? The check writing competition? Is there some sort of game of SKATE that involves mailing everyone a check? Here’s my card, meet me at this address for the contest. See these custom checks with Cartoon Network looing skaters on them? That’s right, I don’t fool around. I’m in your face, edgy, and action-packed. Working title for this post: Skaters can check their balance.

The Life Rolls On Foundation “…is the story of able-bodied individuals, working in concert with those with spinal cord injury, to motivate each other with the inspirational message of achievement in the face of extreme adversity.” Thier flagship progrm is something you might have heard about. It’s called They will surf Again. Here’s an old PSA that should bring to mind Leader O Men.

I found this picture by following a trackback from Sk8.net. It’s from tumblr user djmascotboy, and you can see it larger here. This Rocky kid has good taste in female companions and bad taste in knee pads. Actually, I think he’s sharing shirts with his girlfriend. Those look like Indy 215’s he’s sporting. Update: Checking back in over a decade later and I was able to figure out this is called Sukebo Rocky By Motoyuki Asai, and it translates to “Skateboard Rocky!”