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Everyone who’s ever wiped out on a skateboard probably has some of their own blood and DNA infused in the deck of their board – and now 100 fans of veteran skater Tony Hawk can claim ownership of a board with the Birdman’s blood in it.
In a collaboration with Liquid Death Mountain Water, Tony (53), who is a brand ambassador for the company, launched a limited collection of 100 custom-made skateboards, decorated with art made using paint infused with his blood.
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The $500 (around R7 335) skateboards sold out overnight.
If this macabre merchandising sounds familiar, you’re probably remembering Lil Nas X’s collab with the New York-based art collective MSCHF to create “Satan Shoes”, customised Nike Air Max 97 sneakers, with midsoles containing a drop of human blood.
That project ended with Nike suing MSCHF and the shoes being recalled, after online protests by American athletes and politicians.
The Satan Shoes were a tie-in with the theme of his music video for the song Montero (Call Me By Your Name), in which he descends into hell and seduces the devil with a fiery lap dance.
For the skateboards, two vials of Tony’s blood were mixed in the paint used to decorate the boards with an image of an axe-wielding shirtless and headless man, whose head has been replaced by canned water.
“Yes, there is actually @tonyhawk's real blood in these skateboards. And yes, we sterilised it first. Own your very own piece of the Birdman today,” the canned water group posted.
“Although it could arguably make the world a better place, never ever use these boards to make clones of Tony Hawk.”
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A portion of the profits from the sale of the boards will be donated to a charity that aims to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean as well as to the Skatepark project, an initiative that builds skate parks in disadvantaged communities.
“Now that Tony Hawk has released skateboards with his blood painted on them, and there was no public outrage, are y’all ready to admit y’all were never actually upset over the blood in the shoes? and maybe u were mad for some other reason?” Lil Nas X wrote on social media.
MSCHF had defended the shoes as works of art.
“I feel like it’s f****d up they have so much power they can get shoes cancelled. Freedom of expression gone out the window,” the rapper said of the legal action against the Satan Shoes.
Sources: CNN, E News, Business Insider, Page Six, The Guardian
