Burton’s New Snowboards Cause for Concern?
November 4, 2008
Two new lines of 2009 Burton snowboards have come under fire recently for displaying images that are degrading to women and inappropriate for children to see.
Burton’s line of “Love” boards features vintage photos of Playboy models. Some parents and ski resorts are up in arms over the boards, which they claim are inappropriate for children and for family-friendly environments.
Burton’s line of “Primo” snowboards depicts artistic cartoons of “self-mutilation” that have also been condemned as being inappropriate.
The Love and Primo snowboard lines are limited edition, with only 1,000 Love boards produced and less than 1,000 Primo boards produced. The boards are expected to be seen very rarely on the slopes and will probably become a collector’s item.
Despite the low number of boards in circulation, six ski resorts have already banned their employees from using the boards. The boards have been banned for employee use at Smugglers Notch in Burlington, VT, under a new policy prohibiting offensive equipment.
Vail Resorts, which owns Colorado ski resorts Vail, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek and Keystone, in addition to Heavenly Mountain in California, has put a ban on Burton’s Love boards for employees while they are working. Vail has always had a policy prohibiting their employees from wearing inappropriate or offensive attire, but they have now updated their policy to specifically include Burton’s Primo and Love snowboards.
Sugarbush, another Vermont resort, is also considering taking action in banning its stores from selling the Love board and employees from riding it.
On October 23rd, local activists protested at Burton’s headquarters in Burlington, Vermont. Approximately 150 people showed up to protest the graphics on the Love and Primo snowboards.
Burton CEO Laurent Potdevin responded with a statement on behalf of the company, saying that Burton stands behind its graphics and the right to freedom of artistic expression, noting that snowboarding has long been a sport that pushes boundaries, and that winter sports have a history of tongue-in-cheek advertising.
Find the 150 people that protested and take them off of unemployment.
GET A JOB!!
Seriously, if you don’t like the design, don’t buy the board. If you think your son or daughter is going to sustain long term mental injury from the horrendous sighting of such an unacceptable board on the slopes, maybe you should stay home.
People are way too sensitive. There’s something in this country called freedom of speech. You don’t get to ban something because you don’t agree with its content.
Of course, the people protesting are also exercising free speech. Personally, I think they’re douchebags, but if they don’t like these boards, and are petitioning Burton to do something about it, that’s not the same as government censorship of free speech.
Similarly, companies can set policies for their employees, and if the employees don’t like it, they can also complain and/or work somewhere else.
It’s not like there is a Hustler spread on these boards. The design was done artistically. Where can I get one?
Who is going to buy this board? Maybe the douchebag losers with Playboy mudflaps and bull balls hanging from the back of their trucks. They say, the more you exhibit sexual behavior, the less you’re getting any.
The only banning is being done by resorts. They simply don’t want their employees to ride them, or their store to sell them. That isn’t unreasonable, unexpected, or illegal. They’re not banning their clients from riding them. Any of the 1000 douchebags who want to rock such a tacky board at an aforementioned resort will be able to.
CNN couldn’t even find someone who really cared. Those interviews were filler to a non story.
There is no more on the boards than what kids watch on television. Brief nudity,mature language and violence are a part of everyday life. The cartoons kids are watching are just as horrific if not more than what Burton is putting out.It’s no worse than most of the games that the kids are playing now.If you don’t like the board,….. DONT BUY IT !!!!!