X

Skateboards containing Tony Hawk's blood sell out almost instantly

But some want to know why they didn't spark the same outrage the blood-infused Lil Nas X Satan shoes did.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
3 min read
tony-hawk-blood.png

Tony Hawk shows off a vial of his blood and a note verifying he's allowing it to be used in the skateboard series.

YouTube

No doubt, serious skateboarders occasionally leave some of their blood behind when they take a fall. But a skateboard infused with real human blood? That's a step beyond. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk actually donated two vials of his own blood that was then mixed in with the paint used on a limited-edition run of 100 skateboards -- and they sold out instantly.

Hawk posted an Instagram video of his blood being drawn and the blood being mixed into a can of red paint that was then applied to the skateboard. Then he worried about the skateboard owners being in possession of his DNA and shouted, "No clones!"

The bloody skateboard idea was a collaboration with water company Liquid Death Mountain Water. The company said on its Instagram that Hawk's blood was sterilized before being added to the paint and also noted, "Although it could arguably make the world a better place, never ever use these boards to make clones of Tony Hawk."

A representative for Liquid Death confirmed to CNET that the paint on the custom decks was mixed with two vials of Tony Hawk's blood. It gets weirder. 

"Tony Hawk is a member of the Liquid Death Country Club," the representative said. "So he previously sold his soul to Liquid Death via a legally binding contract, meaning the brand technically owns Tony's blood." Sure thing, and also, yikes! The Liquid Death Country Club appears to be a fan group that gives members perks for signing up. We can't answer for the whole soul-selling part of it.

The skateboard is called the Hawk Blood Deck, for super-obvious reasons. Only 100 were made, priced at a blood-curdling $500, and they sold out early Wednesday morning shortly after going on sale. Some of the proceeds from the sale will go to 5 Gyres, a nonprofit aimed at reducing plastic pollution, as well as Hawk's own organization, The Skatepark Project, which helps under privileged communities build skateparks.

tony-hawk-blood-deck.png

That's a hawk skull the executioner is holding, as in Tony Hawk.

Liquid Death Mountain Water

The red-painted skateboard bears the slogan, "Murder Your Thirst," with an image of the company's "Thirst Executioner" character with a Liquid Death can for a head, holding a hawk skull. Hopefully, not Tony's.

This isn't the first celebrity-endorsed, blood-infused product of 2021, as weird a sentence as that is to read. Back in March, rapper Lil Nas X collaborated with streetwear company MSCHF on a quickly sold-out offering of what the company dubbed Satan Shoes. The devil-themed shoes each contain a drop of human blood, though drawn from MSCHF employees, not Lil Nas X. 

But because the shoes were modified Nikes, Nike filed a trademark claim against MSCHF and the company agreed to voluntarily recall the shoes as part of a settlement. And the combination of the Satan theme and the blood triggered some. South Dakota governor Kristi Noem was among those who tweeted angrily against the Lil Nas X Satan shoes.

Some who saw the Tony Hawk skateboard wondered if he'd receive the same backlash as Lil Nas X did. 

"So lil nas x can make custom sneakers with blood in them and there's outrage, but tony hawk can make skateboards with HIS OWN blood in the paint and somehow it's less of an issue???" wrote one Twitter user.

Fans of the band KISS will remember that back in 1977, band members also had their blood drawn and mixed with the red ink used to print a Marvel Comics KISS comic book.