So now the news that Nike are pulling out of snowboarding has been out for a while, we’re starting to see the first riders from their roster finishing their contracts. First up is Mr Hopipolla/Lobster/Switchback himself: Halldor Helgason, who had this to say on the topic via his Instagram account:
The comments then descended into a small spat with Gigi Ruf over the ethics of big money sponsorship in snowboarding, namely the Monster Energy logo prominently on display in the featured picture.
We’re the last to care that much about online debates (firm believers of the mantra that the only way to win an argument on the internet is by not taking part), but it does raise some interesting points.
It is hard to be sure (neither rider is commenting in their mother tongue) but we think Gigi is saying that if you have a pop at one one non-core big business, you can’t very well keep advertising another. The return point about Gigi riding for Burn is a moot one, as he’s not currently mouthing off against anyone. Rather, he’s presumably comfortable taking the cash to support his family and riding whilst the money faucet is turned on.
The rest of the comments essentially fall in to one of three camps:
1. ‘Yay Halldor! Take the money and run!’
2. ‘Boo everyone! But at least Gigi understands’
3. ‘What? Nike quite snowboarding?’
So we’ll throw this out to you good people: is it rock ‘n’ roll to take the money and say fuck you to the bank? Or rather should we be grateful that good riders can make a decent living out of big business ventures into snowboarding? Let us know below:
