Burton Snowboards has a reputation for pushing the boundaries, but the Burlington company may have gone over the edge with two new product lines that have outraged women’s groups and anti-violence advocates.
One, called “Love,” features Playboy models in various stages of undress; the other, dubbed “Primo,” features graphic illustrations of hands being mutilated by scissors, a box razor and a pit bull. The company is selling “Primo” with the tag line, “Mutilate the mountain, then terrorize the streets.”
An email and phone campaign to register consumer disgust with the new products made its way to Seven Days today. Among the organizations that plan to contact Burton (or already have) are the Girl Scout Council of Vermont, the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and S.A.F.E Alternatives, a national group that offers counseling and treatment advice to people who “self-injure.”
In an email to the company, one Colchester resident asked Burton, as “a leading producer of youth culture,” to “rethink” the new lines. “Is this what you want as ‘cool’ in our world? And why aren’t there nude males on any of the boards??”
An email response from Burton explained that the Playboy “limited edition” boards were created at the request of two professional snowboarders. “Both Burton and Playboy were founded on principles of individual freedom,” the response stated, “and the collaboration has resulted in boards that reflect this attitude.”
The company’s response also offered the opinion that the “Love” boards, which will be “fully wrapped with an 18+ age disclaimer,” are destined to become collector’s items.
While the Playboy line is misogynist and distasteful, the “Primo” boards are violent and outright disturbing. Stephanie Kaza, of the UVM President’s Commission on the Status of Women, called the bloody images “unconscionable” and pledged to help organize pressure on Burton.
We called Burton for comment, but the company has yet to respond. We’ll let you know what they have to say.
UPDATE: Editor’s Note: Opponents of the boards have started a Facebook group.
UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Shana Frahm, Burton’s global PR director. Frahm forwarded two brief corporate statements on the “Love” and “Primo” lines and told me the company would have nothing else to say about the matter for now. Burton executives, she said, “were not available for comment.” I asked Frahm whether the company had received many complaints about the new product lines, but she declined to speak on the record.
Here are statements. I included hyperlinks to some recent press about the artists behind the new boards.
Burton/Playboy Love Collection
The Burton Playboy limited edition snowboards were created at the request of two of Burton’s professional snowboarders Mikkel Bang and Keegan Valaika. Both Burton and Playboy were founded on principles of individual freedom, and the collaboration has resulted in boards that reflect this attitude. The imagery on the boards is tastefully done, and we believe that they will be collector’s items. The 1000 snowboards will be fully wrapped with an 18+ age disclaimer to purchase.
PRIMO
Burton has a long history of working with artists on snowboard graphics. When collaborating with an artist, Burton does not restrict the artist’s freedom of expression. The Primo graphic was created by world-renowned skate artist Todd Bratrud, who has worked on projects for such companies as Vans, Volcom and Flip Skateboards. Burton is proud to collaborate with artists like Todd.
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2008.
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Some of you people would have done well for yourselves back in Germany around, say, 1933.
I applaud Burton for giving money to the Women s Crisis Center in Burlington (something I just learned about). That must mean that they care about issues of violence against women. So, because of this, I expect more from them on the products they create. Burton, don;t you understand the connection between objectifying women and the violence against them? By putting parts of women’s bodies on a board and then adding the text that Robin shared above, is really unacceptable. This blog is about Freedom of speech. and speaking up about these issues is freedom of speech. Putting naked women on boards is a choice that we are asking Burton to seriously reconsider.
So, did anyone else go to girlzone.com out of curiosity? The first thing I saw, bright pink banner at the top of the page, is a super-slim model advertising a weight loss patch. Then another skinny model for the same weight loss product halfway down the middle of the page. Then the bottom banner is an ad for WalMart cosmetics. Welcome to Girl Zone! You’re fat and need make-up!I don’t mean to pick on Girlzone because overall it seems like a great site. My point is that the unhealthy and unrealistic body images girls and boys are constantly, insidiously bombarded with every day from every direction are the problem – not a limited edition snowboard. Think about what your kids are exposed to on a daily basis compared to these stupid, relatively benign snowboards. On TV, video games, magazines, music videos, movies, the internet. We’re so accustomed to it that we’ve become blind. It just seems so unbelievably inane and misdirected that anyone would kick up a fuss about this scapegoat snowboard thing. Hannah Montana will damage your little girl’s self-esteem and sense of self-worth 1,000X more than spotting a hiney on the slopes. Please.
I know the guy who designed this board! He loves women. Trust me. I know. IMO, there should have been naked gypsies on there.
Wow – Does Burton really need to try THIS hard to be cool? I thought that Burton was cool, because of their heritage, design, quality, etc. Burton had a well deserved reputation created by a dedicated team of designers, marketers and sales people.This latest round of board graphics has left me puzzled and disturbed, both as a parent and the Founder of GirlZone.com.My family of skiers has spent hundreds of dollars at Burton over the past few years – we love Burton style, attitude and quality. We cross over as consumers because of this and support snowboard culture as having more fun on snow – a primary benefit of living in Vermont. However, as the parent of a 14 year old boy and 11 year old girl we will not be shopping there until Burton corrects their mistake.To me, Burton’s mistake is that they have lost sight of their corporate responsibility by acting so edgy while wanting to be mainstream enough to make the big profits. Are they in a mid-life crisis? Or is it the awkward teenage stage that has them willing to do anything to fit in and be cool?GirlZone.com has worked with Burton in the past because they stood for empowering girls with what they could do with their bodies – not how their bodies look. Burton represented girls being themselves and playing hard and being strong. Burton has made many millions of dollars from teen girls buying their products. Besides how objectification of women affects teenagers, does Burton have any idea of how pervasive self-mutilation is among teen girls? With the power of these graphics, will boys be joining their ranks?What the heck??
Voice, if the relevant quote is: “the general rule is that the speaker and the audience, not the government, assess the value of the information presented,” isn’t that exactly what’s happening in this very thread? We are the audience, assessing the value of the art. Burton will respond however they respond. Perhaps they’ll cave to consumer pressure and pull the snowboard lines in question. Perhaps they’ll come out with a special Casey Rae-Hunter line of “Big Ol’ Cock” boards. Either way, the market and a free democratic exchange of opinions wins.
Maybe I want to buy the mutilated hands snowboard, because the art reflects an aesthetic I enjoy. Who are you to tell me I can’t?I don’t try to ban poorly-rendered paintings of mallards flying over one of your little covered bridges, and I find those perfectly offensive.By the by, has anyone noticed snowboards are kinda phallic? Would you folks be upset if we emblazoned a big ol’ cock on ’em instead?I don’t know this Brian Wallstin, but the line “While the Playboy line is misogynist and distasteful, the “Primo” boards are violent and outright disturbing,” completely obliterates any pretense to objectivity.Ah, Vermont. I don’t miss you one tiny bit. OK, maybe I miss Bill, Molly and MGP. . .Yours in nudity and self-mutilation,-casey
Thanks Bill. I have read the case (and am no lawyer!) but maybe you are? What I found intersting was the statement that “the general rule is that the speaker and the audience, not the government, assess the value of the information presented.” Yes, commercial speech is protected. But would you say that the phrase above sends a clear message that the audience has a right to respond? Could imbeded in this mean, that since the audience has the right to respond, the commercial entity has the obligation to consider the potential response when creating product? I really am curious? It’s a fascinating issue. Many thanks.
Voiceforwomen, the Central Hudson Test that Molly quoted is not part of the first amendment — it’s from a SCOTUS case that set the standard for determining if it’s lawful for the government to censor certain types of commercial speech, despite the first amendment. Again, since there is no specter of government censorship in this case, it’s totally irrelevant to the Burton issue.
Molly – Your biting response to me is a perfect example of what I mean. But I AM impressed with your reading of the first amendment and your opinion on that. I wish more people would take the time you did to become informed. Great job!!