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An Open Letter To Shaun White: The "Target" is now on you Shaun!Where does snowboarding want to be? As an ambassador of our sport Shaun White has done great things. When he was a youngster he captivated our minds with youthfulness unlike anything anyone has ever seen. No one can argue that his involvement with a premier brand the likes of Jakes company would not be beneficial to anyone trying to make a living off of snowboarding. Shaun by himself is the face of snowboarding to millions of people that have never seen this sport outside of ESPN's silliness and the Olympics. Take nothing away from his impact on our "sport" Shaun White has garnered amazing respect to a populous that generally exists due to our intentions of not garnering respect. But at what cost? First off lets go over his sponsor list: Burton: #1 Snowboard Company Sponsor Now let's go over the implications of such SPONSORS: (And prior to doing so we should define what a sponsor actually is? A Sponsor is someone who vouches for, financially backs, pledges and or promises the validity of another person in return for advertising time.) Burton as anyone in this industry could agree is the stalwart of what everyone wants to be. R.E.D. (or Rider Enhancement Devices) is their accessory wing similar to what DaKine was when Burton created R.E.D. Oakley is an eyewear company with perceived credibility prior them being purchased by Luxottica. Volcom too was once core but eventually went the way of public richness (I mean finance) and became a corporation at the mercy of your fathers retirement fund manager. Volcom is no a longer board sports brand it is a company that is traded on NASDEQ. Don't even get me started on Adio. You mean to tell me that the "ambassador" of what I know and love is actually getting paid by the #1 and #2 snowboard brands at the same time? Check it out if you don't believe: Yes Adio is owned by K2 (which essentially is MR. COFFEE... but we won't go there right now) Oh... and our sports "ambassador" also has a conflict between his console sponsor and his softwear sponsor because Playstation and X-Box (for which UbiSoft develops programing for) are direct competitors. Nevermind that Mr. White drives a Lamborghini. The Chrysler Corporation, (which was recently acquired by Cerberus Capital ), owners of the JEEP Trademark, brand name and marketing strategies, sold Lamborghini to an outside investment firm named "Mega Tech" 14 years ago. (Since then Lamborghini has been sold to Audi AG, part of the Volkswagen Group.) Target is where I draw the line! So... in July I can go into any # of the 1900+ Target stores and buy "Shaun White" Clothing? Aside from the generous contributions to Mr. Whites wallet....is there any reason I can't buy the collection at my local snowboard / skateboard shop where I would rather make such a purchase? Can't your brother design the line... and have the same people that are promising you it be made... turn it into a profitable snowboard / skateboard shop entity? Why the fuck would any shop want to sell anything with your name on it after you have sold our souls and made us look stupid. Because you know how to ride a snowboard better in the halfpipe then any snowboarder before you? Fuckin' Lame! for the future of this sport if you ask me. You should step down as "our" ambassador! And.... there is still Motorola and HP... Point is this: Shaun White is projected by some to make aprox. $10 million this year. Will you be making that much money this year? Could this be a reasonable representation for a person to be considered an ambassador of your sport? Think about it? And well you are doing so... how is your Amex account? Call those fuckers up and tell them you snowboard. Tell them they should wave your late fees and drop your interest rate 2 points.... and then come here and tell the world how far that got you? There was a time where being a snowboarder meant something.... let's bring that time back! Out>
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You're the guy who ends up hating his favorite bands once they've earned name recognition, aren't you? I think you're trying to paint a picture of Shaun compromising his principals as a snowboarder, but the truth is he's violating YOUR preconceived image of what a pro rider should be. To my knowledge, he's never committed himself to "keeping it real". You can't be a sell-out if success is what you've been striving for since day one.
..........
I Like target I can get dvd's some tech-decks and my frozen pizzas all in one stop
As far as buying Shaun white stuff in target I will keep my snowboard business in the true shops, but just think it will keep all the little kids out of your CORE shop from asking for Shaun White gear !!!! Its a big plus for snowboarding !!!
True
Jake Carpenter, sadly, is a whole other story. I still have my Burton catalog from '99. (What I, personally, consider to be the last good year of Burton as a 'core' company.)
The forward of the catalog, written by Jake "Burton" Carpenter goes on about how Burton would remain privately owned. "Rider owned and operated." And about how he would never take the company public.
I mean, he's probably riding good snow every single day and making more money than Oprah, for which no one can blame him. But he did go against those principles and in doing so has made Burton a name brand that every frat boy proudly wears on his T shirt just because he watches the X-Games.
Sigh, at least I can still laugh at them in the lift lines and spray them on the hill.
How can hip-hop be dead if Wu-Tang is forever?
Kudos
Regardless of whether you agree with the PA or not, he presents a valid and cohesive argument...good form PA, good form.
...
1.) You wrote "if you ask me".No one asked you how you felt about the future of "our" sport.Nor does anyone give shit how you feel about it.
2.) Shaun white not only rides a snowboard better in the halfpipe than anyone one else.He rides a snowboard in any condition better than just about everyone else with the exception of a select few like Trice.etc.
3.)Target rules.I buy tons of shit there.Anywhere I can buy a weedwacker, some underwear, and some dog food and a PS3 and then grab some cheese fries all under the same roof is a winner in my book.
4.) Would you really buy Shaun White clothing and wear it proudly
regardless of where it's sold? Probably not.I think anyone who started snowboarding in the 90's would never be cought dead wearing a flying tomato t-shirt anywhere you may be in the presence of industry people.(which by the way are pretty much a joke in their own right,again with the exception of a select few).
5. If you or I or anyone had the opportunities that kid does we'd all jump at them too.And If you were making that kind of money you too would drive a Lambo and accept as many free jeeps as they were willing to put in your driveway.
6. I you claim that you wouldn't do everything in # 5, you're full of Shit.
american express
i like my american express card. its clear.
What's really going on?
Did he drop ALL sponsors to join Marth Stewart and designs stuff for department stores? Come on kid.......selling your soul, maybe? What about the kids? The shop kids who are left at my shop so their moms can buy crap at Target........Little Johnny can now get his sweet snowboard stuff at Target, yeah........So stoked the way the industry is going.......Maybe Walmart will give Kelly Slater a call.....
Give him credit..
Yeah i totally agree, what happened to him, did he sell his soul to the devil. Doesn't affect our life that he pulled off sponsors but it still weird. At least the guy is still a hero to many and ride the hp like no one.
Meg
Its a business and a sport
Did the Oakley deal ever go thur? I think we should look at the following and be more worried:
Luxottica Group has a strong brand portfolio that includes Ray-Ban, the world’s best selling sun and prescription eyewear brand in the world, as well as, among others, license brands Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Prada, Versace and Polo Ralph Lauren, beginning January 2007, and key house brands: Vogue, Persol, Arnette and REVO.
So will my next set of A-Frames be $200.00 With Prada and Versace in bed with Oakley, nice work guys. Hope you dont sell off the cool factory in Cali, the rocket plane ejected seats are all time.
As for the rest, things happen, theres alot of $$ in the sport just like the early 90's get used to it..
Shred the Gnar
Wow?
Like anyone really cares what bullshit sponsors he pulls off, Does it affect your life at all? Does it degrade you as a person?? I don't see you In the x games, and if you were, i'm possitive you'd have some bullshit sponsor as well. Just chill out dude, snowboarding isn't politics, let it be,
Prepare For World Domination
Stop whining, keep riding.
Some people should think less about Shaun White and actually go ride their boards if you ask me. If you want to help the sport out, just ride, get friends to learn to ride so more people can enjoy how much fun it is to snowboard, share your passion for the sport and just chill out, have fun with your friends and forget about a talented ugly kid with many big sponsors...
Dan Gerous
(.)(.)
yes american express should do all that stuff for me because i'm a snowboarder like shaun white, excpet that i'm not endoresing them by being shaun white, nor do they get any postive exposure from me as a crappy snowboarder. super awesome logicating right there.
Stop being such a bitch. Let
Stop being such a bitch. Let the guy make his money. No one hated on Michael Jordan when he made the same deals that Shaun has. He had:
Nike/Jordan Brand
Gatorade
Haines
Chevy
Oakley
MCI
Palm
Wheaties
His own cologne (which smelled like shit)
TV Shows/Movies
Restaurants
A steak company
And I'm sure I am missing some deals
Jordan sold his soul for 15 years and you know what he does now? Nothing. So lets let Shaun make his money in peace so when his knees disintegrate he can play golf every day, get divorced, pay his ex $150m and still not worry about a thing. I think you would probably want to do the same. I know I would.
Nah....
Don't ever compare MJ and shaun white....Truth is, there will be another snowboard mom pushing her kid to be the next nascar snowboarder. What you fail to realize is, MJ didn't come from that and created his own enterprise and brand for himself throughout his career. Compare that.
DESIGNER ?
The truth is Shaun White did not design all of these pieces. Target Corp approached him and as we all know its all about endorsement. There is no real design here. Well except for a few pieces that his brother scribbled and insisted it is COOOOOOL!!!!!
Anyway , so Target then gives this project to LI&FUNG OXFORD COLLECTION a company base in New York. they don't really design what they do is the President along with The VP of Design and the Designer in charge goes to California and New York and Japan etc.. and buys all samples from Modern Amusement ,VOLCOM, Hurley, Surf brands etc . name it they buy all these samples and revise them . The company has no clue of what they are doing since they are not a surf company .And if you think it's cool think again the people who are actually looking reviewing and putting their 1 cent. or half a cent are mostly in their 50's .
If you think you are paying for value , I guess you are imagine what the poor designer in charge has to go thru revising and long nights sweating ... But the perks parties that these managers and this designer with the celebrities . I guess that's what you're paying for .
The celebrity gets about a dollar per unit. There are about 800,000 units for this collection .So Mr White gets about 800K. not bad for lending his name.
Now do you want to buy a shirt that has been recycled from another true surf/ snowboard brand , like VOLCOM, QUICKSILVER ETCE ETC ETC....
You decide..... I don't buy at target I buy at american apparel...
OH and btw these tees cost about 4 bucks overseas. shirt about 5 bucks... do the math.....
THAT'S FASHION MAS PRODUCED STYLE !!!!!!
Educated Consumer