No such thing as bad publicity.
The surf industry, as you know well, has fallen upon extraordinarily hard times. Once-proud brands like Quiksilver, Billabong, RVCA, Hurley etc. have been scooped up by large management companies, their logos slapped on everything from toilet plungers to beard oil companies and dumped into big box retailers. Professional surfers, formerly employed to surf professionally, are joining bread lines as their contracts are shredded.
Metaphorical death and real destruction everywhere.
But a bright spot?
Torquay’s Rip Curl, not previously a household name, has reached international fame even trending on Twitter.
Yes, #BoycottRipCurl has leaped past the numerical mark of roughly 7000 tweets required for “trending” with over 18,000, and counting, the wetsuit and soft good manufacturer’s name in lights.
Huzzah!
The reason for the spike is, of course, due Rip Curl’s Instagram post celebrating trans surf star Sasha Jane Lowerson that read:
Meet Sasha – a West Australian waterwoman who loves the freedom found in surfing, disconnecting from the mainstream, and the feeling of dancing on constantly changing waves. When we were adventuring through Western Australia recently, we were keen to know what The Search means to the surfers who crossed our paths. These surfers live on a wild stretch of coast where there’s always a new wave or campsite just a little further down the road or off the beaten track. It’s a state of mind, always being ready to try something new, curious to seek out knowledge and learn the rules – and break them.
Lowerson was pictured wearing a cute Rip Curl bathing suit.
Backlash to the message was instant, especially in light of Bethany Hamilton’s recent departure from the brand over her views on transgender surfers competing in the women’s division.
As the pile on continued, Rip Curl quietly disappeared the missive which is, honestly, curious. The Rip Curl marketing team certainly would have been aware of the Bud Light brouhaha alongside other “Go woke, go broke,” actions against progressive companies. The cost counted before hand?
Apparently no but now what? Will Rip Curl’s C-Suite team hunker down in the flashbomb shelter and wait for the storm to pass? Apologize publicly? Double down?
Whatever the decision, Rip Curl being on the tip of tongues from Denver to Dubuque has to be good, right? No such thing as bad publicity, yes?
Or will the weight of outrage crush the house that Mick Fanning built?
More as the story develops.
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Have you had your “Prostate exam” ma’am?
Maybe Matt Parker from Album can start designing boards for women that have some extra swing weight?
Where are the hot topics discussed now, you little hussy
Just visit less often if triggered just visiting.
Sucked in Fanning you midget drop in Muppet.
Who will be the first to take out Mens and Womens World Titles ?
some sheila
Yeah, was two days…. probably two days ago. But still!
…could have been a shark mistaken as a man who had his penis removed and tits bolted on?
poly rope and resin with that shit that hardened’s it up…
I think “trending” is maybe real! Or as real as social media can get.
“hunker down in the flashbomb shelter”
Beachgrit Rips curl a new asshole.
That sign says Queers for Palestine, not Queers for Islamo-Fascists, so you haven’t made a point.
Otherwise known a piece of shit.
And also “boycott”? What about girlcott? Theycott? Zecott?
I mean did you even ask?
Rip curl is Beachgrits new shark attack
You must’ve missed the good old Rip Curl Slave labour days?
Whens a transman gunna compete with dudes?
Oh yeah there is one but he plays with the canada womens wogball team,
L
This was not meant to be an inflammatory post. How many times have surf brands trended on Twitter in the last decade? I’d argue this is a first! And I’m genuinely curious as to what the Rip Curl marketing team was thinking.
You are so full of shit I can smell it through the computer.
Tranning the Fire!
They surely didn’t think about the flashbomb shelter – very current affairs
Any publicity is good publicity – just spell the name of the company correctly.
I normally refuse to comment on trans related stories here (more are welcome to join me on that) but it’s kinda funny the company whose wetsuits only fit people with narrow shoulders is the company most openly supporting trans surfers.
*staring at shoulders in mirror from multiple angles with rack of RC wetsuits in background.
At least it’s not patagonia
Waterman CJ Hobgood was looking pretty heavy a while ago. There are no narrow shouldered watermen. OK, for ladies tho…Bianca has heavy shoulders. As does Caroline, Tyler, and Rissa. Tati not so much. Caitlin and Molly need to bulk up. Wetsuit shoulder pads?
Some of my best friends wear rip curl wetsuits.
kept the receipt…”This is your wedding dress…”
No comment.
When you look like Steve Buscemi and are deathly jealous of McIntosh and Goggans, this is what you get.
idk who in their right mind would be actually be envious of a clown like Ashton though
Meet Charles Smith.
You ultimately get what you pay for. Stab has gotten better after they went behind the paywall.
Trying to get this place to change by posting comments won’t work because the business model is post post post. Quantity over quality. Get comments and engagements. They have to post a lot of trash but it’s what keeps the lights on.
Stab has had better video content since going behind the paywall, but the rest of the content is fairly stale. It’s no fun anymore.
The problem is that dumbass Goggans putting himself in every fucking video he makes. It’s fucking painful to watch and Chas is creeping closer to that fucked up model everyday and every time he puts himself in his own articles (or whatever you want to call them). His stupid ass blogs are just a poor man’s attempt at copying Stab and Ashton, and it’s not working.
What’s worse, shining some light on yourself as a character and content creator or creating content based solely upon what your advertisers (i.e. the surf industry/WSL) approve?
Both equally lame.
idk, I really didn’t see Chas putting himself in the Lisa Andersen movie… https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Wait…
Never mind.
It was a two man crew and the other man was behind the camera!
The thing that really bothered me about Stab is that they tried to keep the voice/tone they had in 2005 for way too long.
ouch, I think I know who that was directed at
Maybe Rip Curl made a mistake by letting Bethany go, and could save much face by re-hiring her? Consider: Bethany’s story is incredible and inspiring; she’s arguably the most famous surfer in the world. Only narrow minded dimwits judge a person by their religious beliefs (or lack of them) instead of by their actions.
Much agree, nobody should be judged by their religious beliefs. On the same note though, anyone who tries to push their own lame ass religious beliefs on others is far more narrow minded than those judging those beliefs. Lots of age old sayings that go along with this.
has Beth pushed her beliefs on anybody you know?
Responding to Occs comment
Exactly. Apparently, verbalizing what you believe in might trigger someone.
Religious beliefs are one thing, but swathes of people cease to see inspiration in cunts that out themselves as christo-fascists.
Define “christo-fascists”, please. Be succinct.
I heard christo-fascists ride water buffalo
https://youtu.be/z_XjxaE7gb…
Don’t be obtuse.
Christians who are also fascists?
Define fascism. Without Google
China and North Korea. Neither have Google.
Blood and Soil
white evangelists!
Thank you – that’s what I said, months ago, when Bethany veered wildly out of her lane and unleashed her neighbor-island high school education and family history of ultraconservative, intolerant, exclusionary Taliban-level Christianity on the general public in an unsolicited, unwelcome entry into politics and social policy.
There is no way a multi-national company like Rip Curl, which sells products to a wide range of people from different nationalities, ethnicities, religious beliefs, sexual orientations and skin tones can retain as one of their premier spokespeople someone with exclusionary, bigoted and extremist religious views, so they correctly cancelled Bethany Hamilton’s contract.
Better to have a tranny on the team than a bigoted, extremist religious fanatic.
Theres the story chas do some investigation to determine if rip curls move from bethany was in a corporate sense justified and therefore it wasnt a drop beth for ryan/sahsa it was just rc trying to be woke which has failed partly due to the proximity of ending the contract with bethany
Didn’t she simply say men shouldn’t compete against women?
Bethany’s objections are based on her religious beliefs – not on any science of gender identity.
I personally doubt she knows (or cares) much about the science of gender identity, because for people with her level of religious indoctrination, science is irrelevant.