A company which reminds me that I suck - and why I love them for it
Amid all the advertising talk about branded content these days, it's worth remembering that skateboard companies just call it 'content' and have been doing it like that forever.
Like all skateboarding companies, Tired Skateboards have their content game locked - but they do it with a twist, one that would give most advertisers a serious fit of the worries. Basically, they're honest.
Not 'honest' as compared to 'dishonest', but realistic and perceptive about who their target market is, and it's incredibly powerful - not to mention gut-wrenchingly funny.
You see, Tired Skateboards cater specifically for skaters of a certain age - as the blurb for the video below goes, 'some of us had it, then lost it. Most of us never had it, but still love it'. This is insight applied to communication at its sharpest.
As a comparison, go and watch literally any other form of advertising for athletic goods - super-human ability, impossible skill, incomprehensible stomachs - and they all rely entirely on the aspirational to draw you in. "Just Do It", "Impossible Is Nothing", all these slogans start from a fundamental point that reminds you that you are somehow not good enough. Even when they're just mucking around - Tiger Woods bouncing the ball on his club, or David Beckham and Jonny Wilkinsonswapping balls for penalty & conversion practice - they're still reminding you that they are amazing and you are not.
That's all well and good, and some of those adverts remain classics and for good reason. But in contrast, Tired's 'athletes' are mainly middle-aged guys who land about half of their tricks, and land most of those pretty badly.
The effect is profound. It's hilarious for a start, but beyond that it recognises that 99.9% of people who pick up a skateboard will never reach amateur status, let alone professional. It also knows though that we don't ride skateboards for the competition, for the glory or for the fame, we do it for the pure fun of it. And it knows that when we get older, we feel more and more ridiculous and intimidated by the younger, fitter, more talented kids that are following. Essentially, Tired are reminding me that I suck out loud at skating, but that's ok, that's what is supposed to happen. And I absolutely love them for it.















