why do companies do this

[Anton]

Has anyone else noticed that a lot of companies have started to be involved with little kids and purposely marketing their products toward the younger generation? Why do they do this? Sure they might be making more money but they are also halting the progression of scootering. I'm sure some of you guys have noticed that the sport isn't really progressing. Watching videos from 2008 you see people doing tricks that even today would be considered sick because a lot of the OGs quit riding and the bar for riding is not being set higher. Sure there are plenty of people that kill it and still do mind blowing tricks but the bar for a riding is not being set higher because good riders who keep quitting because they see that the sport is childish. And I am starting to see that too. But not because of the actual sport but because of different companies marketing their parts for little kids. I'm specifically talking about lucky. Lucky used to be so legit and now all they are about is little kids in full pads riding park. But it's not just lucky that's doing this. There are plenty of other companies that are more focused on little kids then the whole scooter scene. I hate how people say that scootering is just a kids toy but if this continues then it really will be a kids toy. Am I making sense or just am I just rambling like a mad man?

 

[Grant Schofield]

Scooters are the next blade i think we just have to accept it.

 

[Bobby R]

Like any company cares for the progression, all they care about is money. That's the only thing they would ever care about, draw the attention to younger kids which will draw their friends in and so on.
Aslong as they have the money or making the money, they don't care at all.

 

[James Webb]

theres madd gear for you.

 

[Micah.]

Anton have you noticed there's like no little 10 year olds at sunny anymore? I think companies should market their stuff to the more experienced, and they will draw in the little kids as well, because they want to be considered experienced too

 

[Anton]

I don't go to Sunnyvale so no I didn't notice. But I'm not talking about just the more experienced. It should be directed to everyone. Skating is a perfect example. Skate companies don't sponsor little kids or market their stuff to children. And look how big skating is. Of course there are unlegit skate companies who are just feeding off of it's popularity and making shitty products and sell them to children. But they are not dominating the sport. Unlike lucky and madd who are some off the biggest names in the sport and are completely focused on little kids. I would be surprised if lucky even still makes bars higher then 22 tall. I wish companies like tilt and proto and addict and tsi had more publicty because they are the people who are going to make this sport not a joke. I know Marcel owns addict but addict I'm sure we can all agree that it's not being marketed towards little kids. I don't care that some companies focus on little kids because that's good. But they defiantly shouldn't be the biggest companies in the game. And it's too late to change this. The only companies that can change the direction this sport is headed in are the companies that were leading them in that direction themselfs.

 

[.Gerrit]

Sunshine is blatantly marketing towards kids...

 

[Micah.]

Even Razor is marketing to the more experienced, ugh I was so dissapointed when the lucky catalog came out. Rebound technology? They just made the wheels softer :/

Companies, y u do dis?

 

[Anton]

Yes a little bit. But at the same time they are coming out with original and innovative part and that's also good for the sport because that opens up new doors. And the different branches have really good teams that consist of OGs and other riders who kill it in both street and park and dont have a team that is for little kids.

 

[Garrett B]

lucky, madd gear, blunt, envy, fasen, grit, district. these companies need to burn.

 

[Anton]

No they don't. Those are the companies that have the power to make a change in the sport. As much as it hurts me to say, tilt and proto are just not big enough. And I don't even know why. Proto has been around for such a long time and are constantly setting the standard for scooter parts.

 

[Garrett B]

You make no sense? They wont stop marketing to little kids because thats where the money is... Lucky sponsors little dipshits that do bri's and thats fucking it.

 

[CallumR]

Yes it does, lucky, district, etc are the ones that need to change, but with the overwhelming younger presence I doubt that will happen and we just have to keep supporting legit companies so we don't do a blade

 

[Anton]

Ok well be realistic man. Those companies are not just going to "burn". Lucky was legit not too long ago they were pushing scootering in the right direction. If they see that they are halting the progression of scootering they will realize that if the older rider quit then scootering won't become more popular and then little kids won't start riding and lucky will have no one to sell to. What I'm trying to say is that these companies are slowly ruining their own business and only they have the power to change that. If the sport doesn't develop and people keep growing out it them soon lucky won't have anymore little kids to sell to.

 

[RiccardoM]

I know everyone says 'we don't want our sport to be like skateboarding', well I do - if you compare the main companies in skateboarding with the main companies in scootering, which one looks better?

Also, I reckon Kevin Demay is right, in a few years there will be a crash and only the most dedicated riders will continue pushing the sport, *like skateboarding*.

 

[Tom Cirbee]

Lucky and Phoenix seem to force their products on little kids a lot.

 

[Serapth]

Skateboarding isnt much different, element for example milked as much money as they could out of Bam Margera boards, they had pretty much every possible size of deck with like 20 different graphics all aimed at the younger skaters. World industries went the same way after Steve Rocco parted ways.

 

[Anton]

Skateboarding isnt much different, element for example milked as much money as they could out of Bam Margera boards, they had pretty much every possible size of deck with like 20 different graphics all aimed at the younger skaters. World industries went the same way after Steve Rocco parted ways.

Yea but this was after skating was popular so it didn't affect the sport. Scootering is still growing and right now it's growing in the wrong direction because of the little kids.

 

[grantinator]

I dont have a problem with smaller kids being sponsored, if they are worthy. If you look at some skateboarders like Johnny Romano, he was a truly talented skateboarder, and he went somewhere. The thing is, in scootering, they are just being sponsored for being a kid or a girl and that annoys me. I'd fully support a truly talented 9 year old in getting sponsored if he was on par with all the other riders but I dont like seeing kids doing tailwhips out of banks and getting a sponsorship.

 

[Jamie Gantz]

For me, I worry more about the quality of the part I'm buying than the image of the company. The companies with a more mature image make the better parts anyways because they are run by people who are active in scootering and know more about the market.