Cashing in on God: Using Religion to Sell Skateboards
Words: Robert Brink / TransWorld SKATEboarding Business April 2003
I wrote this article on marketing religion to skateboarders in 2003 for TransWorld Skateboarding Business magazine. Upon recently rereading, I felt it was still kinda interesting and relevant, so here is a cleaned up, truncated version for 2025 attention spans. Enjoy - Brink
Remember all the ‘80s moms who freaked out upon realizing that Natas’ name spelt backwards is “Satan”? Or the wave of early-90s ads, media and graphics that featured religious imagery for shock value? How about all the pro skaters who are outspoken about their faith?
Safe to say religion has become an increasingly common fixture in skateboarding these days, and the line between professionals or brands sharing their beliefs with others versus leveraging religion as a marketing tool or as part of an “image” for profit seem to blur.
“Religion is probably the most controversial subject humans have to deal with since it purports to be the sentry at the gates between life and death,” says Dave Carnie, Editor-In-Chief of Big Brother magazine. We all know controversy sells, so obviously it’s going to be a subject people are going to play off no matter what their agenda.”
In the span of a year, Zero has released graphics of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, a cross with a bible verse, stained glass church windows with Biblical figures on them alongside a picture of Osama Bin Laden, pentagrams and Satan. “Zero or Die” is the brand’s mantra, and the brand has increasingly aligned itself with religion, specifically Christianity, more than anything we’ve seen to date.
When asked how they felt about, religion as a marketing tool, skaters had mixed reactions.
Unbelievers professional Scott Bourne knows Jamie Thomas has an immense influence in skating, so why shouldn’t he use that to spread the message he believes is the truth?
“The problem comes more from those guys who don’t decide what goes on their board,” Bourne says, “then you come up with this big corporate skateboard mess we are in now, where it all becomes about sales. The church sells itself on a far grander scale than any of these skateboarding companies or pros could ever think of.”
Sean Cliver, former editor of Big Brother and current art director at Blitz Distribution, chalks it up to aesthetics: “Let’s face it, skulls and pentagrams just look fucking cool. A white dude with a beard and sandals just ain’t gonna get the kiddies all hot to drop their quarters on him.”
Supernaut pro, Matt Rodriguez, feels many people in western society already have negative views of Christianity—at the fault of those who poorly represent it.
“Zero may put it out there that Christianity is cool, punkish, or dark, and that’s fine because that’s how they want to perpetuate it, but some kids might get discouraged by that. Sometimes, if the first impressions people get are wrong, they won’t search any further past that impression to find the truth,” he says.
“There’s so much ignorance and mundane-ness in skateboarding,” Rodriguez continues, “and that’s why people aren’t phased by Zero, which is something Black Label has done since the beginning. There are some companies out there that all melt into the same pot and some that don’t.”
“I can’t speak for Jamie or what he’s thinking,” Carnie says, “but there’s a large disparity in the philosophy of someone who will preach the word of God to a crowd of young skaters after a demo and then use dark, negative imagery, like skulls and pentagrams to sell his products. But then again, Christians have always been fascinated with death and evil. They wear their God nailed to a cross around their necks. Christians are morbid motherfuckers.”
Zero founder and professional Jamie Thomas explains that kids are exposed to positive and negative images everywhere they turn, not just in skateboarding.
“As far as Zero goes, in order for me to have the freedom to express my personal beliefs and opinions,” Thomas says, “the other team riders need to have the same right, no matter how adverse or different they are to mine—which is why I could have a cross on my board and another pro could have a pentagram or Satan on his.”
Bourne, whose most recent Unbelievers pro model features Jesus on the bottom, lists his favorite graphics as the 101 Natas pentagram, the Santa Cruz Jason Jesse “Mother Mary,” Blind’s Jason Lee “American Icons” and the World Industries Randy Colvin “Dianetics” board.
“I enjoy the personality injected into these pro models,“ he says. These decks were amazing because they were an extension of the rider whose name was on them. When you looked at a riders’ graphic you learned something about him and the way his mind was working.”
“The message of the Zero graphics seem pretty clear to me,” say Black Label pro Salman Agah, “but I guess any message can be mixed up.” Some of his favorite graphics include the 101 Natas “Pope on a Rope as well as Gabriel Rodriguez’s “Jesus” graphic.
“One of my graphics that Kevin Ancell did in the early ’90s had killing and stealing on the bottom. Lots of shops rejected it because of its explicit content. But all products that are made for sale are for the purpose of profit regardless of the graphic. When I used religious or biblical images on boards, it made them more personal. I didn’t turn pro in the generic series-graphic era, so I wanted to share a personal side of me with whoever was interested in buying my board.”
According to Thomas, when he told the salespeople at Zero he was making a board with a cross on it, they told him it was a terrible idea because Christianity “wasn't cool and never had been” and they felt it would hurt Jamie’s image.
“I did it against their suggestion,” Jamie says. “And my cross board, with John 3:16 in the background, has been my best-selling pro model board ever. It's been seen more than any of my boards have, which means the message was delivered.
“It's a way to share the message of hope to people, like me, who used to not have any. God knows where my heart is and where my money goes. I can't really dwell on why someone else thinks I made the board.”
Over the years there have been plenty of professional skaters and brands with “religious” reputations. The Firm was dubbed the “God Squad” by Frank Gerwer in the March 2003 issue of Skateboarder. The mission statement on Manna’s Web site reads: “Manna Skateboards exists to be a ‘light’ in the world by meeting the needs of others through prayer, friendships, and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by providing quality, God-inspired skateboard products.”
Pros like Lennie Kirk and Sean Mandoli were known for sharing their religious beliefs in addition to their amazing skating and Supernaut being labeled a “Rasta company” doesn’t bother Matt Rodriguez in the least. “Supernaut is based on the personality of the riders. It’s fine if people think we are the ‘Rasta Company’ and give off ‘Earth vibes’ or whatever. Nowadays it seems that most companies are like ‘This is the theme, and it doesn’t matter what you are into.’”
“I’m not trying to insult the Rastafari religion or say that it’s based around drug use or anything,” says Bourne, “but its marketability is definitely high inside a circle of skaters and that could represent a backlash to the Christian–American upbringing. It seems to me that Rastafari is something that people get into long after they become stoners. In America we come from a large Christian upbringing with a strong message against drugs. What could be better than to smoke a little pot, feel good, and then find out it’s okay with the Creator?”
“I guess if I believed in something to a fanatical degree I might want to spread the word on my products as well,” says Cliver. “But I don’t. In the end its just detrimental to your image should you finally come down off your ideological high and listen to your random followers cry, ‘Heathen!’ at the top of their pre-pubescent lungs. Keep the Church and State separate, or at least the thought that it is.”
Salman offers a counter-perspective: “If a stranger came up to me and asked me if I had debt, and I told him that I did, and he told me that he had a way to clear my debt and I’d be free of it forever—I’d be filled with joy and free of my burden. I would naturally tell everyone how to do it. And so it is with Christ. Christians that share their faith do so out of humility and charity.”
“I feel responsible to be a positive role model and for me that means sharing the good news of our Savior,” says Thomas. “So, through my boards and my message, I try and take a little shine off me and put it on things that will last forever. But people with strong beliefs that aren't afraid to put them out there are always going to be persecuted by someone.”
When asked if he felt religion was “fashion,” Thomas replied, “Fashion is fashion, and the truth is the truth. On the other hand, you can fashionably know and display the truth.”
Why do Christianity and Rastafarism seem more abundant in skateboarding than say, Islam, Judaism, Wicca, or Scientology? And why is religion so frequently used in skateboard marketing over say, environmental, political, or human rights issues like pollution, elections or abortion? When was the last time you saw a graphic depicting famine, political scandal, or the Star of David?
Rodriguez cites the musical aspects of Rastafari. “Jamaicans created music to honor their religion. And whether you understand anything about Rastafari or not, or even if you don’t pay attention to the message in the music, you can still enjoy the sound and rhythm.”
“Christianity has always been used as a tool of manipulation by the church and world leaders,” says Bourne. “What better way to manipulate the people than to say you carry the word of God?”
“In our industry as well as most others, ‘partying’ is a lifestyle that is a hundred to one more commonly marketed than Christianity,” Thomas says. "It seems that the other religions you mentioned are more cultural-based than most, so maybe they don't mix too well with skateboarding."
“You can’t discount the first Ron Chatman model on World Industries,” says Cliver, that one was Hindi to the hilt! But I think there are two many arms flailing around with Vishnu to make a clean graphic. It’s hard enough drawing two of them as it is. And Ganesh? You can’t touch an elephant head without someone mistaking it for a Vallely deck, so he’s out too. Christianity just has the benefit of clean graphic design going for it.”
Reminiscing on the production of Big Brother issue 15, where they asked Bill Pepper to kickflip over a pile of burning bibles for the cover, Carnie explains: “He kind of wanted to, but ultimately he said ‘no.’ He thought he’d go to hell if he did it. Steve Olson wasn’t opposed to it, though. So we lit the bibles on fire, he ollied them and the rest is history.”