Several people noticed a change when Lucas Puig left Lakai Footwear Ltd. to go work for Adidas, fulfilling a longtime dream of endorsing certain of the same sportswear products as his French heroes of years past. For most people, the difference centered on his feet and the shoes he was wearing. But behind the scenes at industry functions some began to whisper that a stranger and potentially more troubling metamorphosis could be at work, namely that during this time of upheaval in Lucas Puig’s sponsorship situation that the specter of a defunct pro career, years in the grave, may be seeking to supplant the “Fully Flared” skater’s grasp on his own affairs and remake his career in the poltergeist’s own graven image.
This month’s Adidas ad spotlights what we must interpret as a silent battle for nothing less than Lucas Puig’s soul. Here we find him maxing out his “special” bar with a switch hardflip backside tailslide, back to switch even, a maneuver that requires intense concentration to successfully land for maximum bonus points. Deep in thought and staring down the ledge similar to the way a hungry wolf in the French hillsides might stare down a wayward baguette, Lucas Puig does not notice his hands beginning to move on their own, seeking some extra token to take the photo to some other, unspeakable level. Over one shoulder hovers the translucent shade of Chris Lambert, gleefully urging Lucas Puig’s hand toward a clear plastic water bottle, criticized for cluttering European cities and producing loud crackling sounds. Over the other shoulder floats SAD, fingertips at his temples and eyes closed, exerting all of his internal forces in order to sway Lucas Puig’s hand instead toward a white handtowel that represents purity of soul and also the Ramada Inn.
Luckily for Lucas Puig’s future prospects we can see that the white towelette was the victor. But this episode raises a more deeply troubling threat, that the skateboard industry in this time of harsh recession could be primed for haunting. Ghosts regularly preyed on pros in at the tail end of the 1980s and early 1990s when the industry lolled over and exposed its weak underbelly during the administration of George Bush Sr., and many privately fear that a worse haunting could be at hand soon. Besides the usual property damage and costs related to expungement, an abrupt rise in hauntings poses longer-term threats because it can be scary and equity investors find it difficult to secure insurance against ghosts. This weekend Boil the ocean urges all friends and defenders of the industry to attend church and not answer the door if it seems like a ghost is ringing the bell. Thank you
Tags: Adidas, bottled water, Canada, Chris Lambert, ghostbusters, industry buzz, Jay Jenkins, Jay Stephens, Lucas Puig, SAD, spirits, switchstance, the Marriott, towely
February 10, 2012 at 2:39 pm |
he’s also haunted by the presumably living, in the form of marc johnson’s final trick in man down
February 10, 2012 at 2:57 pm |
Jim Bates swag.
February 10, 2012 at 3:10 pm |
Presumably soccer feet’s prodigious skill combined with the three stripes’ inherent power has lead him to translate dribbling and soccer moves to board control.
February 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm |
I was waiting for a “throw in the towel” punchline. but you popped out early. now who’s the p-rod…
also, bringing a real frenchy to a not-so-real french city i.e. Montreal gave him the needed confidence/superiority to pull the trick off.
February 13, 2012 at 9:27 pm |
totally peace park, i hadn’t noticed. Knowing that suggests to me that he was stemming the bloodflow from a previous attempt that ended on a broken 40.
February 15, 2012 at 4:31 pm |
stupid post. try one about one in a million…
February 16, 2012 at 2:55 am |
Here’s one – that shit jumped the shark.
February 16, 2012 at 10:07 pm |
Stupid suggestion. Too obvious.
February 17, 2012 at 12:47 pm |
this one was kind of a stretch. your rants, while often entertaining, insightful, thought-provoking, and historically/topically relevant, can also be quite capricious, convoluted, and somewhat incoherent. however, the site and its commentary are uniquely enjoyable and much appreciated
February 18, 2012 at 3:22 am |
Heard from a fellow team mate of Lucas’ the other day that this was in fact to stem the blood flow from a previous attempt and nothing more.
February 27, 2012 at 11:48 pm |
Perhaps the ghost of Lucas still haunts the Lakai Europe team, leaving present-day Puig’s soul ripe for phantasmal hauntings.
February 28, 2012 at 8:51 pm |
Montréal is not in Europe, it’s 6 hour drive north off New York… Know your amérique.
Puig , Lambert???
March 11, 2012 at 12:25 am |
another corperate buy out.lakai and dvs are getting like lame ducks now.
June 6, 2021 at 9:13 am |
[…] nose-thumbing. At times, though, things veered darker and weird, most famously in 2012 when a published Lucas Puig sequence featured the freshly striped-up Frenchman switch hardflip backside tailsliding with a water bottle in hand, immediately kindling frights that […]