The crew at GFH Boards are getting edgy, and a few people are getting upset about it. Apparently, their latest ad, currently running in surfing magazines, has generated a few angry calls from Big Corporate, and not just to Garrett Hurley --you won’t be seeing this in your favorite skateboard mags! Never ones to put business before fun, we’ll run it!
Tuggin’ on Superman’s Capeor, “How to get your ad banned.”
The Censored Ad. Click for Wallpaper.
The crew at GFH Boards are pretty well known as your basic, laidback, surfer types. The whole company arose out of a desire to ride something when the waves weren’t right, after all. So, when Garrett Hurley gets annoyed, he has fun with it. In another one of his “serial” ad campaigns, he’s released this ad, above, and managed to ruffle a few feathers in the process. Poking fun at both the “green movement” in skateboarding and a certain company that’s had no love for GFH resulted in a rejection from one skate mag and a flurry of phone calls when it came out in surf mags last week.
We found the ad over at Windansea, and called up GFH to ask, “whatcha got against being green, man?” Garrett picked up the line and gave us a quick phone interview, starting with, “Hey, you know me. I’m green! I just think you can't seem to open up a mag now without seeing an ad for "green" this or "green" that. GFH is poking fun at the fact that it is all a bunch of crap… at least some of it. You want to save the planet? Ride a skateboard to recycle your aluminum cans!”
(Interview, cont'd.) So, you’re not buying into the” green boards movement”?
Much of the "green" movement is simply a ploy to sell more boards. Half the boards made with “renewable bamboo” are glued with epoxy and then shipped halfway across the world from China! Is that more green than using renewable maple? I just think it’s funny the way some of this green stuff is being marketed. Did you see the ASR material?” [In Fall ’07, ASR featured “green” mfgrs, and Winter ’08 has it again. –Ed.]
So, you’re calling BS on renewable resource boards?
I am on the boards made overseas! Look, I read on your site about those guys at Comet making boards with bamboo, burlap and some kind of soy-based glue. I don’t know if it works or not, but that’s impressive and if the boards right good I think that’s cool. I’ve ridden bamboo boards that work great. It’s not about bamboo, it’s about claiming something’s “green” just to make a buck.
Is that all it’s about?
Well, we had some fun with those guys at the big company, but the ads are getting great responses from the surf community so far. We surf on boards made from pretty horrible stuff, but we love the oceans and want to keep them clean. Surfers are already used to the idea that green living is going to have to be something more than a bamboo veneer. I think skaters are ready for that, too.  Should we have used something from "300"?
So, the harsh reactions we heard about are over this green issue?
Not even! It’s all about us poking fun at the big boys, you know that! I have been pretty much shut down with these ads in skate magazines, but I’m not apologizing for our ad. It is what it is, and those guys can take a little heat. They can afford it and there’s plenty of room out there for all of us in my view.
You’re banned?
Well, any ads poking fun at that company are. I’m cool with it, I guess. They have a lot of ad money, are willing to play the bully and these mags have to pay the rent. The smaller mags, especially, I don’t bear them any ill will over this. There are plenty of other outlets where we can run these and, if they work out, we’ll do some more.
Did he budge?
Jeez, what’s going to happen to your booth at ASR, this time?
Ha ha! We’re not going to ASR this winter, and I’ve invested in an alarm system for our panel truck --which runs on biodiesel, by the way! That whole thing with finding people from another company in our truck is just funny in retrospect. When we come back to ASR in the Fall, I’ll be sharing beers and tacos with those guys. You’re buying, right?
Okay, what else you got for us?
I just want to tell everyone on the ‘Fish that I support you if you’re recycling, if you skate instead of driving and if you carpool to the skatepark. I even support you if you’re skating a bamboo board because you love the ride, but don’t be thinking that’s saving the planet. We have a 10-city tour this year with our panel truck and that wood chipper, so come on out and recycle your crappy, big company boards and we’ll make you some mulch or something!
You’re not seriously driving a chipper around?
Well, you’ll just have to see, won’t you?
 Coming to your town...
That’s pretty much it, and Hurley had to take a call he claimed was from South America or something. We think the wood chipper is hilarious, but are its carbon emissions fully offset? |
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