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The reason Anon dropped their skiers

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GetPitted
Posts: 3443 - Karma: 2,299

Yes I know this is the bajillionth thread on this topic, but too many rumors were flying on WHY Anon dropped their ski team and even rumors that they never did drop them.

My good buddy, -Belly* is his name on NS (snowboarder) was also as sad and confused as me when he heard that Anon dropped their ski team.  So he e-mailed them and got the answer on why.  Here you go:

-Belly* --> *Hurty* This was the Burton response to the question about the anon ski team..."Hey Bentley
A few months ago, we came to an agreement to drop free skiing from anon. We did this because we wanted to get back to the core of our company and focus more on what we do best, which is board sports. It may be temporary and it may be permanent. It’s too early to tell but for the time being, Anon will just be sponsoring Snowboarding, surfing and maybe some skaters. But that’s it for now. As far as teams go, Anon just sponsors a snowboard team. Any others questions, get back to me.



Peter T

Rider Service Representative

(800) 367-2951 Fax (800) 564-2692

Burton.Red.Anon.Gravis.Analog.the Program"
Oct 17 2007 5:05PM
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Sholte
Posts: 2929 - Karma: 12
man that sad, back to there roots? they might lose alot of customers because of that. but i really hope oakley picks up tj.
Oct 18 2007 12:50AM
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rudeboy_87
Posts: 434 - Karma: 10
thats a little unnecessary... how about you give them to me?
Oct 18 2007 4:24AM
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edd1e
Posts: 679 - Karma: 16
I'm excited to see who picks up Pollard as a result of this.
Oct 18 2007 4:43AM
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Ryanvdonk
Posts: 12811 - Karma: 1,971
haha, i know ashley would beg to differ. and i always hear stuff about foam detaching from the goggles. the AK outerwear line is the thing i hear the most good things about.
Oct 18 2007 4:48AM
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FJibber
Posts: 1494 - Karma: 1,291

This season everyone should punch any skier's face behind anons

Oct 18 2007 5:41AM
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GNARnia
Posts: 1233 - Karma: 54
lame sauce news

but i cant fully believe that, sepcially cuz anon is for goggles. Its a bull shit reason to drop skiing, BURTON SHOULD GO CORE AND NO ONE WOULD GIVE A FUCK. Anon should be concerned with making goggles thus making money.

they have a dope product, they arent proving anything by dropping the skiers other than they are no better than the cocksuckers who sit on landings all day and hate skiers. thats a bunk reason and i think its unprofessional.

im still rocking my anons, and my ronin shit.

besides, skiing is getting way more popular than snowboarding now adays, they jealous


PLUS MY FREAKIN NS NAME IS ANON SO IM HEATED

haha


dont really care about the fact they dropped the team. as long as they still make a dope product in my pricerange and i get to wear it....im satisfied


Oct 18 2007 9:31AM
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Davin_Cowper
Posts: 9 - Karma: 10
Well i can tell you that i will never buy any anon products ever now.... that is a good stategy that  anon is taking here, pissing off half the people populating the hill. 
Oct 18 2007 9:50AM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,805
Honestly, they DO need to get back into the core of their company. I had always been a Burton customer, because they made quality products. But over the years they have lost their focus and have been producing poor quality products.



Oct 18 2007 9:51AM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
Anon goggles had terrible optics, poor material quality, poor comfort.

I tried on a friends pair of Figments last year, and they were no better than a $15 pair of Scotts that a gaper would wear. The only thing they had going for them were good color-schemes and trendy graphics.

The only loss is the sponsored athletes that are shit out of luck now.
Oct 18 2007 9:57AM
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skodeo7
Posts: 14949 - Karma: 9,234
That is such a ridiculous email that pisses me off in so many ways. I can't even begin to describe how idiotic that is. Anon goggles (as mentioned before) are obviously pieces of shit, no matter how cool they look. Functionality>looks. Anon obviously doesn't want our sport, so fuck them!
Oct 18 2007 10:07AM
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mohawkskier
Posts: 743 - Karma: 98
but no one surfs or skates with sun glasses
Oct 18 2007 10:12AM
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BobYohan
Posts: 3001 - Karma: 375
then you are confirming their belief that noone cares about skiers enough to effect their profits. when you can buy a superior product at a similar price from companies that support skiing there is just no reason to do that.
Oct 18 2007 10:40AM
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ski@jaypeak2
Posts: 2802 - Karma: 429
You may all say "Fuck Burton! What have they done for skiing they hate skiing?"  Well if it wasnt for Burton being located in Burlington VT we would not have half of the rail jams that we have...Bolton's whole park is put on by Burton, sugarbush hired snowparks to create a park that would rival the other parks in the area, Stowe goes off because of their influence....It may be different in other areas but i know here in Burlington VT without Burton the whole freestyle mtn scene would be a hell of a lot smaller.

PS most kids associated with Burton dont care if you ski or snowboard as long as you care.
Oct 18 2007 10:49AM
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snowboardersrule
Posts: 1077 - Karma: 15
clearly anon wanted to save money. the moves makes sense. its cuts their team in half and shores up their core image. however, i don't know who cares about that type of skier/rider rivalry bs anymore. if anything maybe they are trying to stoke the flames to show how "real" anon/burton/etc. is. 
Oct 18 2007 10:50AM
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FUUUCK
Posts: 18426 - Karma: 4,888
didnt all of NS agree during the Eric Pollard radio interview that we would all boycott any one of his sponsors if the dropped him? if you support freeskiing in the least dont buy their shit, so many better options out there anyway.
Oct 18 2007 11:06AM
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Literature
Posts: 13673 - Karma: 3,085
We need cooperation between the sports.

The feud is over, Jake Burton. Let it heal. If you need to hate, do it someplace else, but not the hill.
Oct 18 2007 12:07PM
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Mezmerize19
Posts: 6475 - Karma: 18
Im feeling a strong Johnny Tsunami vibe from all this.


Im not supporting burton anymore. Asshats wanna drop us go ahead. We'll drop them
Oct 18 2007 12:26PM
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caucasian_chad
Posts: 4078 - Karma: 3,625
"It may be temporary, it may be permanent"

Uh, no it will definitely be permanent because no skier will ever join your team now.
Oct 18 2007 1:36PM
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nothanks
Posts: 13551 - Karma: 31
Nice business move for them.

They will still sell goggles to tons of skiers, freeskiers and weekend warriors alike, without having to spend tons of money on freeskiing.
Oct 18 2007 1:53PM
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nothanks
Posts: 13551 - Karma: 31
I say this because the kids on NS swearing of Anon forever may be right, but we as a whole make up such a small percentage of the "freeski equipment buying" market, let alone skiing as a whole.
Oct 18 2007 1:54PM
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chewy15
Posts: 674 - Karma: 60
amen brother
Oct 18 2007 2:04PM
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Journey
Posts: 421 - Karma: 16
anon is for posers who suck
Oct 18 2007 3:14PM
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Campeador
Posts: 7516 - Karma: -1,227
I like my figments but didn't realize how shitty they were until I bought my crowbars
Oct 18 2007 3:54PM
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LuchoR
Posts: 278 - Karma: 637
i found this pretty narrow minded from anon/burton cause if i´m not mistaken a few years back atomic (to name one) was one of the crazy racer brands, but i think that (obviously because they earn more money) but they opened their mind and also bulit snowboards which i may say they also rock and not stay " in their roots"
Oct 18 2007 3:58PM
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no_steeze_in_NY
Posts: 225 - Karma: 13
 yo i bought a pair of anons about 1 week before they dropped their skiers and i was fucking pissed
Oct 18 2007 9:46PM
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lalalalaura
Posts: 6753 - Karma: 68
Oh wow.

I just realized what it feels like to read 50+ responses from people who have NO clue what their talking about.

Burton/Anon's decision makes perfect sense, and you guys are naive to think that it's just some big "fuck you" to skiing. It's business and basic positioning strategy. They're doing what their customers want, and their customers aren't skiers.

My NS experience just changed. Ohhhh shit.


Oct 18 2007 9:58PM
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Cloud.
Posts: 1195 - Karma: 16

Sum this up prttily wil going of toopic a little..so basically burton is gay and dropped there skiing team..liek some of the best out there...basically there loss..lost a lot of money and sapport wiht that one..and also annon goggels arnt even that dope..liek yah they look dope btu they fog like a bitch.. i was actually going to buy another pair of annons..but hell no.. and also why support them when they dont support us!

Oct 18 2007 10:05PM
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Microcosm
Posts: 4765 - Karma: 153
I understand that's what their customers want and that their target customers aren't skiers. So if we aren't who they're trying to sell then tell me why we should buy from them? Let's stick to skiing only company so we can stay core; and by core I mean isolated.
Oct 18 2007 10:37PM
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SHastatahoe
Posts: 3414 - Karma: 20
It was cool that they sponz0rized skierz, but whatever.  I'm not going to buy their product because I like to be proud of the product I buy, and like to see it go to companies I like.  I still buy 686, cause I think they make a quality product.  Anon never struck me as a real quality brand (burton), and I hate burton boards even though I ski. I wouldnt suggest buying anon, but its yer choicez.
Oct 18 2007 11:15PM
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DskiC
Posts: 39 - Karma: 10
Well if anon wanted to save money by dropping skiers, it only makes sense to save skiing money by dropping them.
Oct 18 2007 11:37PM
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TONYDANZA
Posts: 181 - Karma: 2
Cause skiing is gay.
Oct 18 2007 11:38PM
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SirFryanator
Posts: 11149 - Karma: 1,415
and you haven't seen this before...ever? It happens a lot.
Oct 18 2007 11:46PM
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nothanks
Posts: 13551 - Karma: 31
E-hug.

See six posts above.
Oct 19 2007 12:17AM
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lalalalaura
Posts: 6753 - Karma: 68
There is a large difference between targeting "who you want" and "who you can effectively cater to".

It costs a metric fuckload of dollars to penetrate a market (in this case skiing), and compared to their snowboarding market, were probably not getting a huge amount of growth out of their brand. Some higher ups had to tell Anon to downsize, and naturally they're going to have to take out the business unit that's making the least amount of profit. I'm sure Anon would LOVE to be a widely respected brand in skiing and would love to have a wide and expansive team, but as it is skiers view Anon as a snowboard brand trying to be skiing, and that's probably why they never really cut into the sales of Oakley, Smith, or Scott and eventually had to pull out of the market leading to threads like this.But don't be confused thinking that Anon is just abandoning skiing because of a few individuals (some might argue that, ahem) or because they don't like skiing. Burton is a well run business, and ultimately the decision probably came down to Anon not making enough money to be competitive in the skiing market.

Brand positioning also plays into it a lot I'm assuming, but that's an entirely different point altogether.

But to reply to your post more specifically, as a consumer (and as a human being) you have complete free reign to do whatever the fuck you want, and personally I'd rather see skiing-specific brands grow than other sports trying to cut into this market. So boycott? I don't know if one should go to that extreme, but ultimately you're going to make purchases based on your values, wants, and a handful of other factors, so do what you want and what you're most comfortable with.


Oct 19 2007 2:32AM
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jksl
Posts: 12727 - Karma: 854
i feel like their ex-skiing team manager with his incredibly shady "bussiness" practices and lying didn't really help their view on skiing, eh?
although i'm probably way off...



or maybe not.



oh well. they're goggles.....
Oct 19 2007 2:59AM
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aaron.ebner
Posts: 2868 - Karma: 61
i respect the fact that burton wants to stay as a roots company. i don't think i would like it if armada started making snowboards. but if they are going to say they're a core company, they shouldn't make skis.
Oct 19 2007 3:13AM
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rodenski5
Posts: 384 - Karma: 10
So did you even read the email or what?  What part of (paraphrasing) "we are dropping our ski team to focus more on our core of boardsports only, including surfing and skateboarding" says that they would love to stay in skiing?  How do you know skiers weren't making them money?  I'm sure they made them more than surfers or skaters ever did.  Even if it was financial, there are many things they could have done besides dropping skiing outright. 
Oct 19 2007 2:41PM
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ski_powpow
Posts: 1247 - Karma: 1,200
there gonna loose alot of buyers because of this
Oct 19 2007 2:43PM
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nothanks
Posts: 13551 - Karma: 31
No, they aren't. Maybe a hundred kids on NS.
Oct 19 2007 3:35PM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
i still don't understand why they would blow off skiing entirely.  Its a huge money market and it doesn't hurt their image considering they make goggles...
Oct 19 2007 3:43PM
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SkierX
Posts: 16253 - Karma: 538
I still fail to understand why it matters to skiing much.

Anon goggles quality was extremely sub-par compared with other brands in the same price range.
Oct 19 2007 3:44PM
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KG_
Posts: 2198 - Karma: 20
it maeks sense, i wouldnt want burton to sponsor skiers
Oct 19 2007 3:46PM
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GNARnia
Posts: 1233 - Karma: 54
hes got a point....reep the benefits of not seeing alot of boarders wearing saga or avaalan  or siver (pre bankrupt) yet us being able to wear any "core" snowboarding companies, and making that shit look gooood
Oct 19 2007 3:51PM
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nothanks
Posts: 13551 - Karma: 31
If they went after any market in skiing, it was freeskiing, and compared to skiing as a whole it makes up a small percentage of its market.

Oct 19 2007 3:56PM
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Microcosm
Posts: 4765 - Karma: 153
aha, gotcha. I understand where you're coming from and I agree with what you're saying. I'm still going to be unlikely to buy Anon in the future though. Aside from all this about the dropping of the ski team I simply prefer Oakley. But that's just me.
Oct 19 2007 4:04PM
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BobYohan
Posts: 3001 - Karma: 375
agreed, I don't take the move personally. still i prefer to spend money on companies who invest in the sport and create an industry capable of supporting pros.
Oct 19 2007 5:42PM
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VT_scratch
Posts: 8784 - Karma: 6,235
look at my thread.  hes still advertising for them in freeskier...
Oct 19 2007 6:00PM
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PhillyBluntz
Posts: 547 - Karma: 16
yo i thought this was old news?
Oct 19 2007 6:02PM
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skiRay
Posts: 7558 - Karma: 926
i guess i will continue to support them... not like i used to though (pants, helmet, jacket), but more like smaller stuff. or just pants
Oct 19 2007 6:54PM
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cottonwoodarmada1651
Posts: 1734 - Karma: 40
yeah i love how all these little kids on ns think they know better how to run a multi-million dollar company than the people who are...well, running a multi-million dollar company.  "i feel pissed off about this" isn't market research.  burton knows what they're doing.  you don't.  freeskiers seem to think they're a much bigger market than they really are...delusions of grandeur or something.


Oct 19 2007 10:52PM
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