Skater brands denounce gay-hating fans #toplovesall

A couple of young men from Western Quebec have drawn the ire of the social media shame machine for their violently anti-gay shirts and statements.

One of them (I won't repeat their names here) was photographed wearing a shirt with the name of his gamer group, along with the words "If you are gay, don't approch [sic] me I'll kill you," to a popular Halloween event in Ottawa. Once identified, the man and a friend spoke to media defending their group's message, even though it might be considered hate speech in Canada.

These guys don't deserve any more infamy than they're already getting, however local skater store Top Of The World's reaction is interesting from a branding point of view.

Recognizing RVCA and other subculture brands on the offenders, Top Of The World posted the above captioned picture with the words, "I'm sure you've seen these fellas in the news or on social media. If not check it out. We wanted to make ourselves clear when it comes to this kind of garbage. #ottawa #toplovesall"

In recent years, many brands have struggled with the polarizing issue of LGBT equality, such as in the pasta wars of 2013. But with gay rights in the mainstream consciousness, in more progressive parts of the world brands have more to gain (and less to lose) by being LGBT allies than in courting homophobic customers. 

Top Of The World and RVCA picked the smart side in this one.

"Wider, stiffer, longer lasting"

Skateboard advertising is neither subtle, nor ironic. It is just straight-on adolescent male masturbation material:



Via Illegal Advertising

F'd Ad Fridays: How would you advertise skateboard wheels to teenage boys?

Oh! Oh! I know. With porn?

Or maybe a little racist lesploitation? (I just made up this word today.)

Or perhaps a bad pun or two?

And some trash talk.

Thanks for turning me on to this brand, Steve Hall. It's just awful.

You can see the rest of the ads here.

It's 1979 all over again in advertising land

I'm (just) old enough to have gone to roller skating parties without irony.

To have (poorly) skateboarded on a plastic deck.

To have thought that this movie looked pretty cool:



I am also old enough to have watched older kids declare that Disco Sucks, and to recall that at my last roller disco birthday party, we skated to "Crazy Train" and "You Shook Me All Night Long".

But hey, times change. Younger people, living without embarrassing disco-era family photos, are free to relive the 1970s Venice Beach roller disco scene without shame.



But I have to admit, when I see those skates, socks and shorts, the commercial reminds me too much of this:



As long as I never have to wear nad-squeezing '70s ADIDAS shorts again, though, I'm happy.