#Element skateboards honest series

They’ve been around since 1992 and marked a positive change in Schillereff’s life. His overflowing passion for the sport along with his interests in rap music, street art, and wildlife shaped Element Skateboards into one of the best skateboard brands. He was a lifelong skateboarder before he founded the company, receiving his first skateboard as a gift when he was only four years old. It’s of little surprise that you, dear reader, are interested in getting in on the skateboarding action.Įlement Skateboards take their namesake from creator Johnny Schillereff’s love of nature.

#Element skateboards honest series

Many skaters were inspired by the skateboarding tapes of late 1980s skate legends and even more picked up their first board after playing the untouchable series of Tony Hawk video games. Skateboarding has maintained a strong presence in both mainstream and countercultural movements since the 1990s. However, to look at things that way would be to exclude the huge variety of other skateboarding companies. Now that Tony Hawk has gotten involved with NFTs (we apologize if this is how you found out), it may seem like the skateboarding industry’s golden child has been slain.

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He went on to make millions with “The Hangover” sequels and famously did his “Between Two Ferns” series, interviewing a big list of celebrities, including President Barack Obama while on the campaign trail. Say what you will about him dishing it out - but he can take it too. It was all just another day for Zach, who has built an altar of success on being completely blunt, honest, and making fun of himself. Perhaps Nike could take a lesson from a comedian and not take themselves too seriously. Though you can still count on their shoes being made extremely cheap, off-shore, and sold back to you for an 80%+ profit. To be fair, Nike deserves credit for making huge strides in improving working conditions. I truly believe the American consumer doesn’t want to buy products made under abusive conditions.” “The Nike product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime, and arbitrary abuse. Then CEO, Phil Knight, took action to turn the company around and was blunt about the situation. Unsurprisingly, it led to tons of turmoil within Nike's offices. Several athletes left the brand and even more threatened to do the same. The sweatshop scandal nearly cost Nike its popularity and its foothold as the market leader. It led to big, embarrassing protests around the country in front of Nike stores. One group of women employees were forced to run laps because of mistakes in the factory. Many of the workers were underage and being paid as low as 14 cents an hour.Įven worse, they were expected to work ridiculous hours and in unsafe conditions. Years earlier, in the 1990s and 2000s, stories broke that Nike was using sweatshops in Malaysia and other South Asian countries. Nike controls 62% of the athletic footwear market and the vast, vast majority of its shoes are made offshore. And for the record, they didn’t answer the question. The call went on, awkwardly, for a few more minutes and Zach and his agent never heard back from Nike. It was all crickets on the other side of the line. Within five minutes, Zach, in his typical way, chimes in and says: “So are you still having children make all your stuff?” Everyone dials in and Nike’s team is excited to discuss the huge opportunity. He has a deadpan manner, strange characters, and enjoys challenging people with stupidly funny questions.įor example, he once asked the Grand Wizard of the KKK if he’d ever seen “Big Momma’s House 3”. Even by the already-zany standards of comedians, Zach is unconventional. They decided to test out sponsoring a comedian for the first time, and wanted Zach to wear Nike shoes to upcoming red carpet events and also star in commercials as a personal trainer.īut here’s the problem - Nike’s team clearly didn’t understand the comedian’s sense of humor and hadn’t watched much of his standup. As his fame soared, Nike was trying to use new promotional angles with younger demographics which were waning in their surveys, amidst increased competition.