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Tony Hawk created $500 skateboards painted with his blood, and they have already sold out

Professional skateboarder joked he ‘didn’t read the fine print’ when he signed up to be brand ambassador for water company

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Wednesday 25 August 2021 17:58 BST
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Tony Hawk is selling skateboards infused with his blood

Tony Hawk is following in the footsteps of Lil Nas X with the release of a new line of skateboards infused with his blood.

The famous skateboarder offered the 100 limited-edition boards, that have since sold out despite retailing for $500, through a collaboration with water brand Liquid Death, which shared a video of vials of Hawk’s blood being taken on Twitter.

“Yes, there is actually @tonyhawk’s real blood in these skateboards. And yes, we sterilised it first. Own your very own piece of the Birdman today. But act fast! There are only 100 of them,” the water brand tweeted on Tuesday, using Hawk’s nickname.

In the clip, which began with a close-up shot of a needle being inserted into Hawk’s arm, the professional skateboarder explained that he recently became an ambassador for the brand before joking that he “didn’t read the fine print and now Liquid Death officially owns my soul and my blood too”.

The video then saw Hawk’s blood being mixed with red paint, which was then applied to the skateboards of the same shade.

In addition to the bloody colour, the skateboards also featured a graphic of a man whose head had been removed and who is holding a hawk skull.

According to Liquid Death’s senior account manager Jake Tredo, who spoke to ESPN, the boards sold out within 20 minutes of the launch.

And while Hawk joked that the stunt means the brand also has his “DNA,” he noted in the video that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the bloody skateboards will go to a good cause.

“Some of the profits will go towards killing plastic pollution and to building skate parks in underserved communities,” he said, before urging fans to go to Liquid Death’s website to purchase the boards.

Despite selling out almost instantaneously, the promotion sparked mixed responses on social media, with some fans supportive of the stunt while someone else described it as “sick and disgusting”.

Lil Nas X also weighed in on the skateboards, with the Montero rapper alleging that the outrage he faced over the release of his Nike shoes with drops of blood in them was not because of the inclusion of the bodily fluid, but rather for another reason.

“Now that Tony Hawk has released skateboards with his blood painted on them, and there was no public outrage, are y’all ready to admit y’all were never actually upset over the blood in the shoes? And maybe you were mad for some other reason?” he tweeted.

Earlier this year, the 22-year-old was sued by Nike, and faced widespread public outrage, after he unveiled his “Satan shoes”. Following the lawsuit, MSCHF, the design brand behind the sneakers, agreed to recall the shoes from buyers.

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