Nike has enlisted some of today’s hottest extreme sports athletes to face-lift their trademarked “Just Do It” campaign. The revamp of the late 80’s-early 90’s slogan is presented to the pubic as “The Chosen” and includes skate legend Paul Rodriguez (P-Rod), Olympic snowboarder Danny Kass, and surf prodigies Julian Wilson and Laura Enever.
The contest is running within Facebook where winners will be determined by fan support, Nike and Nike athletes. P-Rod gave his skateboard a rest to talk to us about his participation in the event and about how your crew can enter to win the title of “The Chosen”.
Read on.
It used to be that basketball and baseball were the traditional sports, but now skateboarding, surfboarding, BMX and action sports are quickly becoming a huge part of American past time as well. So I think it’s smart that Nike is getting involved in this scene because the youth plays a heavy part of any brands growth.
When I was a kid skating in the back of my house I never thought for a second that years later I would be placed in a Nike campaign. I grew up having to skate at night because we needed permits to skate, or having to take our own lights and generators because we could only skate at night, but now things are loosening up and major brands are recognizing extreme sports as professional sports.
What’s in a crew?
What happens is that in most crews you have that one guy that rides the best, then you have another guy that doesn’t ride as well but that takes good pictures, so then that guy becomes the photographer of the group. If you’re lucky you also have a guy that knows how to shoot and edit film, so then he becomes the videographer of the group and that’s how crews are born.
When I was skating at home, I remember I had my own crew. It was always five or six of us guys and we would just skate whenever we could. Skating is not like any other sport where there’s a coach and practice and all that stuff. You learn how to skate on your own and by getting on the board and just doing it.
So what’s great about this campaign is that it understands that sense of camaraderie. The video contest is for crews from each genre to enter to win a trip out to LA and have them see what it’s like to be a professional skater.
Judging your skills
I’ll be one of the people judging the video submissions and to tell you the truth, what I’m looking for is the whole package. I’m looking for a crew that not only knows how to skate but also knows how to make the moves look good. I want them to showcase their skills and be creative, and that goes for the moves, editing, and the music as well. I personally like to skate to hip-hop; just recently I skated to Kanye West’s “Power”. I also like me some Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, but you have to be careful to pick the right song. You can’t just slap a music track onto the video. You have to make sure it goes with the pace of your video as well. All I can say is for crews to be themselves. Don’t try to be something you’re not because it will show, you know. Just be you and may the best crew win.
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“The Chosen”, revolves around a film featuring P-Rod, Danny Kass, Julian Wilson and Laura Enever. The film was shot all over the world at night and features lighting and pyrotechnics reminiscent of a live rock concert. Take a look at the preview here and enter your crew to be “The Chosen”, here.
Buena suerte.
*images courtesy of Nike Action Sports.
