Really good article...

its actalluy the gayest thing ever

amazing article




back to the original

Harvey, i think everyone one ns should read this. if you can, make it a link on the home page so we all realize what is happening, happened, or going to happen

CANDY BAR!

I liked this paragraph:

You’ll find in a couple of years that nobody will crow more loudly about the “true nature of snowboarding,� about the “revolutionary potential of extreme sports,� than the latecomers: the Nikes, the Adidas, the Rossignols, whoever. They want to leave no doubt in the public’s mind about this sport’s hipness.

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I laugh at the parallels, given the fact that the Salomons, Rossignols, Lines, and K2s started the newschool movement, and the Armadas, 4FRNTs, Ninthwards, Libertys, et.al are the latecomers. That these latter companies are the ones espousing the "true nature of newschool skiing".

And the kiddies are buying into it...

fascinating, thanks for the link. well-written, plainly a smart guy.

promoting the notion of advertising being anti-utopian puts into effect exactly the phenomenon he is talking about. it 'co-opts' the rebel model - which is what he says everyone loves about snowboarding, and makes that the defining feature of advertising itself, regardless of what is being advertised. this is all very well as long as there is something to set what you're doing in opposition to. in some respects, new school skiing survives thanks to aerialists and snowboarders.

it's pretty optimistic to claim that it's all ok because major corporations have marketing departments who are sensitive to trends and present themselves in the right light to seem anti-establishment, or to represent 'freedom.' it's important that they try. respect where it's due for generating aspirations, cool is a fine and ephemeral line. there are some fantastic adverts out there, they can be a great format for creativity which fits well with attention spans.

it's also important that consumers look beyond the gloss to see what is actually being sold. i guess it comes down to the question of whether we're part of a herd that just buys what is shoved in front of us, or whether products only survive through some kind of natural selection. do you trust consumers to have taste or not? it's a tricky one.

I think its more survival of the fit. there are very few main stream "extreme sports" that have just died out. only one that i can think of....inline. skateboarding is not as popular but its still a really young sport when compared to baseball, football, bball, etc. its on a rollercoaster. really popular some years back and now its not as popular but the reason these sports exist is that not every kid wants to play a varcity (sp) sport or join the chess club. so thats where these sports come in. and thats why they will be here for a long time. it also depends on geographic location. sure surfers are awesome but nost surfing advertisment is on hte coasts. so i beleive that freeskiing, while it may never get really huge like snowboarding did will always get some media attention as long as highschools dont force students to join the basketball team.

little_cucu: I got a tripod
monkeysteez: Me too, its in my pants.

:::PINK PANTHER:::