Has Shaun White Sold Out?
Selling out has long been a contentious issue within the sport of snowboarding, but there was always an explanation for an athlete being sponsored by this company or that company. Deals with beverage companies, credit card companies, electronics makers, and car manufacturers don't cut into the money being made by regular people. Selling clothing at Target does. Instead of that money ending up in the cash registers at local snowboard and skateboard shops, it's going into the pockets of Target's shareholders. To me, that's crossing the line. THAT constitutes selling out.
Shaun White's deal with the devil, er, I mean "Targhay," irked me enough to write a more in-depth piece today. Check out Shaun White Sells Out in Time for Summer X-Games in the Professional Snowboarders section of this website to find out just how fired up this has me.
Do you agree Shaun White's Target clothing line is going too far?
Comments
It tells you something about snowboarding culture that this is considered selling out when a basketball player would see it as business as usual. It’s nice to think that not everything is for sale. What a great sport!
Shaun White has been blessed with athletic ability to spare, and hair that’s brighter than any celebrity’s this side of Ronald McDonald.
He’s a marketer’s dream, and I think he should cash in while he can. He won’t be able to compete forever. Someday, he’ll just be a name on a Nintendo game…
It’s funny on one side of the page Shaun White is getting blasted and on the other side there ia a link to his merch at Target.It’s hard to tell who the sellouts really are.
Sponsorship is how skaters and snowboarders make all their money, so I say go for it. The bigger the sponsor the better!
Great topic i did a post on our snowboarding School blog about my thoughts on this issue. also find us on. blogtalkradio.com/snowboardingschool
Dude. The guy is amazing. If it is what he wants to do, he should do it. I say more power to him for being so talented.
http://www.readyforsnow.com
The guy is an amazing rider, I mean he turned pro at the age of 14. No one can deny the kid has talent. And although I still like to think of snowboarding as a non-conformist, underground activity the truth of the matter is it is becoming more and more mainstream thanks to riders like White. He knows his carreer isnt going to last forever, even this year his performance compared with his last year has dropped significantly. And becuase he isnt going to be around forever he’s capitilizing on his fame while he can. I think he can be labbeled a “sellout” but at the same time, I can’t say i disagree with what he’s doing. Had I been in his position, I’d snatch up every big name sponser that came my way. No one lives forever.
Did you ever consider that not everyone has access to a local snowboard or skateboard shop? I applaud Shaun White putting his name on a line of clothing that is well made, affordable and accessible to a wide variety of kids, not only the privileged.