You love skating, bro. You skate day and night. If the apocalypse hit and the earth’s sources of wood dried up, you’d make your own boards out of irradiated plastic shards and skate whatever remained of the world for the rest of your life. All that matters—really, all that’s ever mattered—is you, the street, and your skateboard, man.
Except, at some point, faced with the prospect of paying full price for boards forever, you considered sponsorship. That notion likely ended there, as a vague aspiration. Or, far-fetched though it may have been, you pursued the goal further, filming a sponsor-me video, putting it on a tape (or DVD), and sending it to a company, only for it to languish under a team manager’s desk.
In the age of Instagram, though, that letter has been replaced by DMs and that tape by a collection of clips filmed on an iPhone. Instead of searching for an address and painstakingly writing it on an envelope, you need look no further than an app on the device in your pocket to contact a team manager. And though those messages may not invite the overwhelmingly positive response you had envisioned, some company dude is reading them.
And at least one of those company guys is posting them. In early August, an account called @sponsormonsterdm appeared on Instagram, sharing screenshots of sponsorship solicitations and, naturally, requests for free boards. Snippets of videos, most of them shot on suburban streets and at skateparks, materialized shortly thereafter. The proprietor of the account is a co-owner of a small, though somewhat prominent, skateboard company.
If you’ve wondered what, exactly, industry people think of your thirsty messages, here, by way of a conversation that took place in @sponsormonsterdm’s DMs themselves, is your answer.
How many sponsor-me messages do you get per day?
It’s more like three to five a month. Depends on the content we put out. Magazine ads get more.
How many of those kids are familiar with your company?
None. “I need a wheel sponsor. Check my footy.” But we don’t even make wheels.
Are the kids surprised when you reply to them?
They are more surprised they aren’t getting sponsored.
What do they say to that?
“Do you want more footy? I have a park line on YouTube.”
I’ve seen a couple brag about their follower counts—1,500, 2,000.
We get those. “I have 2000k followers. I’ll wear your stuff and spread the word.” They also rattle off their trick list.
Is anyone ever good?
You get one or two.
Ever send them anything?
One or two. A deck or something. That’s rare. Most of these kids seem to have been skating for a month, tops.
Sponsorship seems attainable. They just have to send a video, which they can make with a phone.
It’s all too easy for these kids. Film a bigflip standing still on their phone and send to 100 “sponsors” in five minutes. Cut and paste the intro and attach the clip.
Don’t bother changing the name of the company it’s addressed to.
That happens. I’m friends with some other brands. Sometimes we get the same kids, same messages.
“So I’m your favorite brand?”
Kid answers: “Yes! Of course.”
“Really? Because you told this brand they were your favorite.”
They have no clue we are friendly. That one gets them.
It’s hard to understand that skating is a small world.
Everyone knows everyone. And with social media, everyone is a swipe away.
The vape and skate guy was my favorite.
Mine, too. We get lots of French kids. We don’t even sell boards to France.
Why do you think that is?
I wish I knew. I have to ask next time. One offered to model for pics in front of the Eiffel Tower on his Instagram. I also told him I mailed his box to the Eiffel Tower. He was very upset because he doesn’t live there and may not be able to receive it.
I always wonder if these kids actually watch videos.
Probably just Plan B and Jart. Whatever Jart is.
I also wonder if they expect so much because they come from the “everyone wins” generation.
Yes. All is free. Give, give, give. Back in my day, it cost $5 to mail a VHS tape. You had better damn well like that company. Send too many and you’re broke pretty quick.
And there were no read or seen receipts.
Nope. You got a call or you didn’t. Done. No cut and paste.
You ever send off a tape?
Yes. Guilty as charged.
Who did you send it to?
I got a box from Arcade once. Jason Rogers told me, “Send another tape in six months.” I said, “I’ll send one in a month.”
Did quantity over quality. That was it. No response.
Would ever put someone on through a video?
Sure. Well, no. Take that back. I’d flow, but the team has to meet them. That’s a must—everyone has to click.
I assume it’s never gotten to that point.
No. We’re also small and broke. Only so many people we can add. I can’t imagine putting someone on because of footage alone. They have to be cool.
Where did the idea for the account come from?
At first, when we started getting [DMs], my partner and I were very nice and polite. But after reading some and seeing how clueless they were, I decided to start answering them. At first it was constructive criticism: “Don’t skate park. Make sure you’re at least on the level of the team riders,” etc. And then the kids would still say, “Can I get a tee, anyway?”
I figured this was a good forum to vent my frustrations. It gets some contributions as well, which is nice in helping me know I’m not alone.
Have kids found it?
I haven’t gotten a sponsor-me request on @sponsormonsterdm. Yet.
