I’m not Selling my Instagram, There’s a New Action Sports Drink on the scene

Oliver Goldsmith said that honour sinks where commerce long prevails. Well, not in Craig Anderson’s case. He’s drawn a line in the sand on where his honour stands in regard to his personal brand. And, there’s nothing more personal than a man’s IG account, especially when it’s curated like that of Mr Anderson’s. In modern biz, it’s not about what you’re wearing on the red carpet, it’s about how you engage on social media. One of the most common KPIs in an athlete contract is the seamless posting of ’sponsored’ content on IG, without it being sponsored. When Craig Anderson was given a warning by his sponsor Incase about the potential of being dropped for failing to post, Craig argued that it doesn’t help either brand. Pressure mounted from both parties, Craig wouldn’t post to his 109k followers and the contract is now dust.

Whack a logo on this and it could be Villager’s first campaign. Loz Enever was built for flogging coconut water. (Photo: Duncan Macfarlane)

Speaking of commerce, let’s take a look at new Coconut Water biz coming out of California driven by the clever gents who brought us St Archer. St Archer, the craft beer from San Diego, adopted a very inspired business model. The basics are this: use athlete’s money as start-up capital, give said athletes significant equity rather than pay them annual salaries, and they’ll happily push the brand as much as they can because it’s their own. The success and $70m+ buyout of St Archer beer is something that has been well documented on Stab, and the overnight riching of athlete ambassadors who reportedly turned $50k into $1.75m in less than three years, is a success story like no other. Turns out the boys behind St Archer are at it again. They’ve stayed in the beverage space, this time moving from beer to hydralite-rich coconut water. You might have seen the black-on-white text Villager logo coming through your feed from a massive roster of big names including: Jack Freestone, Alana Blanchard, skaters Eric Koston, Paul Rodriguez, Atiba Jefferson and Guy Mariano, the Guduaskas brothers, Taj Burrow, Monyca Eleogram, Koa Smith, Nate Tyler and Coco Ho.

Laura Enever, Taylor Knox, P-Rod are also back again for another swing, after folding a substantial number of leaves post St Archer buyout. And, we’re thinking finding new investors this time round might be a little easier when the boys are riding dirty in Bentleys (metaphor!). Many surfers, including Jordy Smith, said no to the St Archer deal last round. Drinks and action sports have always been close bedfellows, but beyond the sticker and hideous flat-brimmed cap, how many athletes would actually pour the sugary syrup down their throats? Not many, we hear. So, in a more socially-conscious world, it makes sense that athletes are aligning themselves with products they’d actually use.

Danny Fuller, because handsome, and because socks.

Despite what the stock market might tell you, the surf industry is still a decent place to do business. Los Angeles-based high-end sock label, Richer Poorer, are moving into the surf space. They’ve opened the team with some of surfing’s most handsome devils, Danny Fuller and Eric Geiselman. This is where we avoid puns about attractive faces and feet.

Oh, and please consider this is an official retraction from the Stab Department of WordPress CMS Login Details. Stab reported in Gossip Girl a few days ago that we’d heard a rumour that VonZipper was closing its doors. Well, we got it wrong. Very wrong. VonZipper is alive and well, and any surf industry whispers are false. We for one, are glad that one of the most beloved eyewear brands in the game will be continuing. We sincerely apologise to all that were affected by our inaccuracy.