Unveiled: Billabong x Creed collaboration!

"Billabong takes you higher!"

I totally saw the press release for Billabong’s latest collaboration with Creed and assumed, without even a shadow of doubt, that the collaboration was with Creed the band. Do you remember them? I think vaguely Christian with a marketable “grunge” lead singer who had the voice of an angel or at least the voice of Eddie Vedder.

I thought that Billabong was following up collaborations with Andy Warhol and Iggy Pop with a tiny slice of 90s nostalgia in an utterly post-ironic ironic way and felt like the brand had reached the heights of artistic expression in one fell swoop.

The social commentary, the wink wink, the barbed wire motifs, the earnest but so so funny lyrics… all of it made me want to find Billabong’s lead designer and hug him and tell him that the joke was the best ever played in surfing and that for certain they would sell out entirely because of the self-awareness so lacking from our space for so long.

I was already dreaming of a t-shirt featuring this image:

With the words “Billabong takes you higher!” underneath in faux grungy font. Absolutely crushing it.

Then I realized the collaboration was with Billabong team rider Creed McTaggart and, while I like Creed McTaggart very much, wondered why Billabong would do a collaboration with a team rider.

Like, isn’t the overall partnership a collaboration?

Now I’m sad. Could someone please make me a t-shirt featuring that image with the words “Billabong takes you higher!” underneath in faux grungy font?

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