RUSTY=anti-sup?

[WaikikiDairyQueen]

perhaps Big Blue, perhaps, but the kids that came before and after me KNEW, the Rules of the Road in surfing and we were taught by the likes of Diffenderfer, Noll, Curren, Buff, Rabbit, Trent & etc. We were taught properly and held up our end of the bargain as we were taught. Cracks just came with the territory Then.

Perhaps your just sour because you, dropped the ball or maybe just a bit thin skinned?
And like you said, its a sport. Football, Baseball, Soccer, Bandminton. You get called out, if you mess up and taught what the proper procedures are in the selective sport, whatever that may be. You say, due to the cracks it's gotten messy. I say, due to the lack of Parenting, it's a mess. Kids running rampant, without any direction. Same for surfing. A lack of dicipline & teaching. A lack of respect, for the sport that they chosen. It's a hobby to them. Not a lifestyle that some of us, have chosen.

Carry on

[LKSURF]

Alot of what your saying is true and  I think the ad is to violent.  We dont want to see this thing go to far and someone end up dead over it.  Some kooks should lose their fins, thats ok.

[Tom English]

Spongeroller, don't be a quitter. 

[rustyclothing]

As many of you know, there has been considerable discussion in this forum about Rusty's recent clothing ad featuring Josh Kerr in Surfer and Transworld Surf, and the perceived anti-SUP sentiment that accompanied the ad.  As a brand that takes our industry reputation very seriously, I wanted to personally respond to the concerns the ad has raised and reassure the surf and SUP community of its intent.   

Rusty has always been an authentic surf brand that strives to be innovative, make great product and, most importantly, have fun.   Our intent with the ad in question was to incorporate a fun, humorous tone into our marketing, and we regret that some people were offended by our attempt at humor.  In no way does any of us at Rusty condone violence of any sort - this has no place in our society.    That said, we have decided to pull the ad from all publications.

I'd also like to apologize to Rusty Preisendorfer and the crew at Rusty Surfboards for any criticism or negativity garnered from the ad.  Rusty has been on the forefront of surfboard innovation for years, and an icon in our industry.  He has been building SUPs for many years and is an avid SUP'er himself. While some of the criticism on this forum has been directed towards him, he was not involved in any way.  The same goes for the crew at Boardworks -- they were not party to our decision to run the ad either.   

All of us at Rusty are passionate about what we do.  We surf, skate, snowboard, wakeboard, SUP or some form of each, so we were very aware of the irony of the ad. While we may have missed the mark on this ad, we are certainly not anti-SUP and did not aim to upset anyone.  Through this process, I have seen a very passionate group and appreciate your dedication and energy regarding the issue.  We have taken your words to heart and encourage you to continue supporting the boardsports you love.

Sincerely,

Charlie Setzler
President
Rusty Clothing

[Reid SUP'd]

Pulling the ad?  its already published so the damage whether intentional or not has been done, will there be any type of retraction/apology in place of this ad in future surfer and tw issues?

[H2Oman]

Part of moving on is letting go.  Let it go. 

[pdxmike]

That "apology" is not much of an apology.

He never says they were wrong to publish it, or that he is sorry for that.  All he says is that "We regret that some people were offended by our attempt at humor".  I'll bet he regrets it, but regretting how other people reacted to the ad is far different from apologizing for it.  That has become the typical PR-speak that you hear all the time in the news--expressing regret for how people reacted to something you did, rather than saying you were wrong to do it, or sorry about doing it.

If he felt that printing the ad was wrong, it would have been very easy to say so. 

However, at least they are pulling it, and at least he made his position clear. 

[WaikikiDairyQueen]

i didnt know waikiki had a dairy queen??...is there still one in ala moana or is there another one now???
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

before your time, Roller, 50 & early 60's. Ask your Uncles about "umbrellas" too. Waikiki beachboys breakfast stop, before raking the beach & officially opening it up every morning. Small kine history lesson, yet still a part of the overall picture. There is no history for some here, just fat wallets.

[BigBlueSea]

DairyQueen,

Today's kids came after you too, right?  No history, reap what you sow, fat wallets.  Lots of negativity.  Carry on.

[juandoe]

Dear Mr. Setzler,
I would like to see a Rusty pro-sup ad in the next Surfer magazine.  Since you support all boardsports, I am sure you will oblige.

Thanks in advance.

[whit]

I'm surprised they would alienate potential customers .

[jd]

Rusty has always been an authentic surf brand that strives to be innovative, make great product and, most importantly, have fun.   Our intent with the ad in question was to incorporate a fun, humorous tone into our marketing, and we regret that some people were offended by our attempt at humor.  In no way does any of us at Rusty condone violence of any sort

Gee Mr. Seltzer do you think everyone who looked at the ad or posts on this forum is a complete moron with an IQ below 20 that we believe your disingenuous attempt to right your wrong.  Your attempt to retract is the only thing that is humorous and a total joke.

Murder is humorous?  Why don't you go tell that to the parents of the 9-year-old girl who was just murdered in AZ.  I'm not sure where you get your values, but not too many people take murder as being humorous.

Why don't you go read the Surfermag.com thread about your ad and how the "surfers" applaud your violent ad.  Then come back and tell us how humorous this is.  What you did was further the discriminatory anti-SUP sentiment that pervades the surfing community to sell some board shorts.

[PonoBill]

Well, PDX and JD. I've got to say, you're not dumb.

I could have written that letter, or more precisely, my boss WOULD have written that letter back in my weasel PR days (before my weasel marketing days). I remember drafting an apology for something PGE did (I think it was an outage, but it could have been something else), and having my boss rip it to shreds. He loved editing my stuff. The gist was that we never apologize for the action, we apologize for the result. Because the action is our fault, but the result isn't.

Sorry we f%#ked up is not the same as sorry you were inconvenienced, or sorry that you were offended. In fact, sorry you were offended is a backhand way of saying "what a humorless wanker you are".

On the other hand, reading the rest of the code behind the letter, it's clear that Old Charlie Setzler got at least one and most likely two boots up his ass. Since he really isn't apologizing for the ad--he could really give a rip what we think--he's making nice for Rusty himself and Boardworks who probably own the boots.

Personally, I take the dog trainer approach to issues like these. Until you hear the whimper you don't know that your point is getting through. I didn't hear a whimper. When I read a line like "perceived anti-sup sentiment" my ears burn. Surfer kills SUP guy. Hmmm, how foolish of us to perceive that as anti-SUP.

Absent a meaningful action I don't see any reason to do business with anything that says Rusty anywhere near it. Lots of choices out there. I'm just about as interested in the business relationship between Rusty boards and Rusty clothes as Charlie is in what we think. It's all Rusty to me. They made their choice of who to get in bed with and how.

I do understand the urge to say "what the heck, lighten up, move on." But that usually just means there will be a next time.

[headmount]

I do understand the urge to say "what the heck, lighten up, move on." But that usually just means there will be a next time.

Great point.  Perfect example of a transparent passive aggressive line but over here the locals don't use the word passive aggressive they just say, Fkn Haoles.  I used to think they had a chip but now I get it.

[PonoBill]

I did a little article on Ke Nalu. Mostly just pulls from the Zone, but I think Ke Nalu reaches a different audience, and even though I haven't been doing much with it since I'm working on Xtreme Geezer, it still gets about 20,000 unique visitors as month. Might as well let them know what's going on.

http://www.kenalu.com/2011/01/11/outrageous-rusty-ad/