I grew up during a time when skateboarding was primarily the activity of teenage outliers who weren’t satisfied with anything mainstream. Skateboarding was (and still is) illegal on the streets of most cities, where it’s best performed. There’s no practice schedule, there’s no right way to do it and there’s nobody cheering you on. So at its core, skateboarding is a selfish form of artistic expression that is content with containing itself in a bubble. Skaters enjoy being uncool and that gives them an aurora of sincerity and realness that young people feed off of.
Obviously advertisers have noticed.
Young people cast aside trends as quickly as they unknowingly create them. This makes them feel impervious to outside influence. It’s safe to say that many consumers hate being advertised to, but a good product is a good product and if it’s compatible with the lifestyle, consumers just might buy into it. Brands need to be careful aligning themselves with a lifestyle because one tiny bit of pandering can be disaster in the arena called word-of-mouth. Don’t try to BE the lifestyle, just contribute to it in a sincere way. The goal is to fly under the radar of coolness.
The Cool Curve, as I like to call it, looks suspiciously like a jump ramp – on the other side of mainstream success is the agony of failure… hard concrete (not to be confused with Toby Moore’s Cool Curve Theory) .
My brother-in-law was once reading a popular skate message board when he started laughing out loud – “It’s true!” he remarked. Somebody was making fun of the Justin-Bieber-like skater Ryan Sheckler for messing up at a large national contest that was sponsored by Matador Beef Jerky. “Maybe he ate too many Jack Links?!” one kid joked. Another responded seriously, “Dude, you know those are the bomb!.” My bro-in-law agreed, they are, in fact, pretty damn tasty.
Who wins? Beef jerky.
