Targeted advertising is nothing new. Google keeps track of what you search for and shows you ads based on what it thinks you might be inclined to buy. It’s old hat, but this weekend I saw an interesting application. As I waited to click through the pre-roll ad on a Portland Timbers video, the content caught my attention. Lately I’ve been getting a few skateboard related pre-rolls. I can’t remember for what exactly, it might have been Vans, Converse SG, or possibly Levis with skateboarding, but this one was different. It was a amateur video montage of a kid skateboarding. Low and behold it’s Schaeffer McLean, the same kid form the janky indoor ramp video. I watched the whole thing (Well 99%) waiting for the product placement or a call to action but it never came. The web link associated with the video took me to Schaeffer’s Youtube user page, which is written in the third person, so one has to assume it’s run by his parents. Those video ads aren’t free, someone has to pay for them. So what is he selling? There are two possibilities, either he’s trying to drive traffic to the user channel and generate revenue through inline ad views, or he’s looking for sponsorship opportunities. It might just be the first paid “Sponsor Me” advertisement, but how many team managers are scouring YouTube for unsolicited new team members? I suppose there is a third less cynical option. Maybe the parents just want to (pay to) share their child’s love of skateboarding with the world.

Steak ‘n Shake is a Midwest based diner franchise. This graphic is only a hastily Photoshopped stock image from their Facebook page, but it’s surprising that they picked up on Go Skate Day on any level. Anyway, “Steak ‘n Skate” flows better than “Skate ‘n Shake.”

– Thanks to Tim Jamison for the tip.

A vintage advert for CSR Sugar in the September 29’th issue of Australian Women’s Weekly. Apparently, sugar is a crucial part of any good diet. Must have been the same doctors who used to say smoking was good for you too. Available at Side Street Vintage in Brisbane, Australia.

– Thanks to David ODK for the tip.

A poster for Landlubber clothes dating back to 1978. Naked with a backpack, skateboard and a notebook, huh? Nothing is better than landlubber clothes? Oh… if you don’t have Landlubber, you might as well wear nothing. The seller needs some help with photography skills. This is one of the most haphazard auction shots I’ve ever seen. There isn’t a decent shot that shows the whole thing in a straight forward view.

Bob Burnquist and crew (including Jeff King) built a classy looking floating miniramp as part of a PR campaign to (Warren) bolster California tourism. Visit California, where all your dreams can come true. This commercial speaks directly to 1984 Kilwag. I remember my first time in California, actually visiting some of the places I’d read about and seen in Thrasher like venice Beach, the Nude Bowl, and random grade schools with banks. It was like making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Dream Big was filmed in 2013, but I didn’t see it until recently. It looks super fun, kind of small, almost anticlimactic in the context. Maybe their budget didn’t allow them to dream bigger. Still, it’s great that things like this are being built. Don’t forget to visit California.

5 years ago I found a weird looking board on Ebay. The wacky truck configuration and the fact that it was a promotional board for an auto parts manufacturer made me save the pictures. I just recently found an ad for Hooker Headers in the May, 1976 issue of Hot Rod that had a order form for the Hooker Headers skateboard, and amazingly enough, I was able to find those old pictures among the flotsam on my hard drive. It’s got a metal plate between the trucks, similar to the Flex-trol, but it also adds the ability to change your wheelbase on the fly. Hooker was positioning this as the “ultimate suspension system” for skateboards. Was it a way to build brand loyalty for kids to young to drive yet? I can’t imagine they had a longterm business model that involved skateboarding. Still, it was too expensive of a setup (manufacturing wise) to be purely promotional, especially considering that they offered three boards in two colors as well as the suspension system in two different configurations. Maybe someone at Hooker had a kid who skated. The brand is still around but it looks like it has been absorbed by Holley. You have to wonder if drag racer Bill Jenkins was pleased with having to share his ad space with a child’s toy. He received the nickname “The Grump” from his comrades on the track due to his no-nonsense attitude and general avoidance of chit-chatting with fellow racers.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader zeno01 and some scans from Matthijs we have a little more info on the origins of this board. See the Concrete Wave interview with Steve Alba after the advert.

UPDATE: Reader pics of a Hooker skateboard here.

Here’s three vintage Levi’s print ads from the 70’s. The one on the right is from Salvador Dali’s brief, unpublicized performance art piece where he worked as commercial artist in various ad agencies. Yes, I am making this up.

This is a TDK advertisement shot at Venice Beach circa 1989. I’ve seen this up on ebay before, actually but this one actually comes from the Google Books, repository, adjacent to the digital knoll. It’s from “Spy” magazine… ha. Remember that one? I’m looking at the shape of that board and thinking that might be Dave Hackett. Possibly Steve Olson? Anyone got any other ideas?

– Thanks to Sandor for the tip.

Hermes style wings fir your shoes. Shoe + wings = shwings. These aren’t intentionally marketed at skateboarders per se, more like marketed with skateboarding.

– Thanks to Josh Burt for the photo.

Double page spread for the Gap in an issue of GQ. Almost looks like it could be 20 years old… Photo courtesy of Aaron Shims, who thinks you should patronize Black Market Skates, skateboard at Marginal Way, and swears he doesn’t actually have a subscription to GQ