Birdo and Leticia from Consolidated Skateboards have been leading the charge against the large corporations bullying their way into skateboarding for years now. They are so dedicated to their cause they had to make the tough choice of cutting one of their riders over his Nike shoe sponsorship. In their opinion Nike is one of the biggest corporate offenders. When the Nike "Dunk" model shoe first hit the skate footwear market, Consolidated Skateboards fired back with their "Drunk" model. Thumbing their nose at corporate America trying to once again break into the skateboard game. But unfortunately for skateboarding this time the corporations are seeming to have some success. A lot of mom and pop retailers have reported serious issues with their Nike accounts. From billing problems to being forced into orders they cant possibly pay off. A few shops have reportedly had to close their doors.
In the last few years the Consolidated crew has streamlined there campaign. They have dubbed it the "Don't Do It" campaign. When your fighting one of the biggest companies in the world with a very limited budget you have to resort to some gorilla tactics to get the message out. At this years Street League / X Games L.A. collab contest Consolidated hired a plane to fly a Don't Do It banner over the Staples Stadium. Apparently the plane only made one pass and then they wouldn't answer their phone until after the event had finishing taping ensuring the "Don't Do It" message would get no air time on the television coverage of the event Apparently the same thing happened to Consolidated at the US Open of Surf when Nike had sponsored it! This example of a big money corporation flexing it's muscle in ethically questionable manor is precisely one of the reasons they should be rejected by the core shop/skateboarder. Watch the video by clicking here.
About the DONT DO IT FOUNDATION:
It's simple. The skateboard industry was founded and run by skateboarders. There are some companies that are trying to take this away. It's time to wake up!
The DONT DO IT FOUNDATION can be found on Facebook by clicking here.
Official release from Leticia at Consolidated:
"This banner was supposed fly during the most recent Nike/Street League contest finals, but didn't end showing up til after the contest was done, ensuring no television coverage. We have good reason to believe it was intentionally delayed. The same thing happened to us at the US Open of Surf when Nike was sponsoring it last year. The plane there was supposed to fly for five hours, but disappeared after half hour, and never came back, with the plane company answering no phone calls from us until the event was over. If you could help us spread this video so the world can see it, and to let these outsiders know that the suppression and control of the media won't stop us!" - Leticia Ruano Consolidated Skateboards
