I was in a pub ordering a cider a couple of months ago and looked up at the TV and saw what appeared to be a Jeep commercial with Mike Vallely. The sound was turned off but I seem to remember Mike sitting in a drainage ditch (LA River scale) and a graphic that said “Mike V on skateboarding” or something like that. I haven’t seen it since, but I did find a web site called Sportskool.com that is essentially trick tips for all kinds of sports, most of them no-so-Extreme. Mike V. is the go-to guy for skateboarding, and Jeep Patriot is the sponsor. At one time this would have struck me as odd. Maybe Jeep is trying to capture the Mike V and the Rats demographic.

Seen on the streets of Portland, Oregon. Bucky Lasek I think. Hey if they’re giving money away…

The first time I went to college I lived in a dive of a house with 14 people called Ten Shitty Guys. The McDonalds monopoly game was new-ish at the time and we pooled our game pieces in the house to try and win. One day we thought we won $1000 or something like that, so we marched down to McDonalds to try and get paid. Turned out that there was another Monopoly based promotion going on somewhere else with game pieces that were almost identical. We won a prize all right, first place jackasses. Here’s a 2006 (I think) commercial for McDonalds Monopoly game promotion with a Best Buy connection, and (implied) vert skating…

The Skateboarding Robot and the stop-action animated Human Skateboard. Really. That’s enough. Stop writing about it on your blog. (Oops! Too late.) Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, there’s more after the jump, including the the Subhuman Skateboard, AKA the Britney Spears remix.

This is what I live for. This Burger King commercial from the 70’s features skaters Dan Murray and Robbie Weir. Here’s a few of the highlights: 360’s with a serving tray! The King is live action this time, no plastic mask like the current commercials feature. He rides what looks like a Duane Peters deck, as well as an early contender for the World’s Largest Skateboard. They either switch stunt doubles or reverse the shot to get frontside airs in both directions. The sound track is… so bitchin! Here’s a quote “… and burgers made just right. Afternoon delight. Out of sight!” A complete transcription and more after the jump. Now I can retire. Update: The Burger King kid speaks!

I’m sure Tony was flattered to be asked to represent the state of California in a commercial promoting tourism. There’s nothing more quintessentially California than skateboarding, right? I’m sure the joy left him as soon as he read another script asking him to talk about “pop.”

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?

This is day 11 of a commercial a day. I’m going to quit after day 14. Not for lack of commercials, I just can’t take the pressure. It’s the weekend man. I ‘ve got better things to do! Here’s a recent HP Computers commercial featuring the rapper Pharrell. He talks a bout having his own pro skateboarding team. I won’t get into that here because I’ve got a separate post planned about how much of a jackass he is when it comes to skateboarding. However, there is a bit of unintended irony in the way the skateboarders are presented that makes them look like puppets. Catch the commercial after the jump.

The Discovery Channel has a series about GM’s car of the future (not to be confused with Chef of the Future) which is basically a radical (no pun intended) new platform for building cars. Why do we care? The basic chassis system is officially called “The Skateboard.” It’s powered by fuel cells and has no central motor, allowing different body configurations to be bolted on at will. Also, the steering is fly-by-wire, meaning the turning impulse is controlled electronically like a jet plane instead of mechanically. And yes, it looks like a skateboard. Catch the video after the jump. [Source: AutoblogGreen]

I thought I was going to run out of commercials to showcase, but lucky you, I dug up this old VHS tape I had in a box. Continuing the yogurt industry’s obsession. with skateboarding, here’s an ad from around 1999 or 2000 for Yoplait brand GoGurt, which is yogurt in a tube. Please excuse the clipping of the beginning which was due to not giving the VCR enough time to cue up properly. That was the best I could due at the time. I blame Y2K.