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Tony Hawk Selling $500 Skateboard with His Blood Infused in the Paint

Tony Hawk has given his sweat and tears to skateboarding, and now he’s given his blood. The 53-year-old professional skateboarder recently became an ambassador for Liquid Death Mountain Water, the canned water company aiming to reduce plastic pollution and keep people hydrated.

In a new promotional video, Hawk sits in the middle of a half-pipe getting his blood drawn. “Apparently I didn’t read the fine print,” he says, according to the Daily Mail, “And now Liquid Death officially owns my soul and my blood too.” He goes on to say, “They’re taking out my blood, and we’re going to use it for skateboard graphics.”

The video shows Hawk’s blood mixed into a bucket of red paint; then the screen printing process for the skate decks. “Some of the profits would go toward killing plastic pollution and to building skateparks in underserved communities,” Hawk explains.

The skate deck features the company’s can-headed mascot, the Thirst Executioner, holding a hawk skull on a red background with the slogan “Murder Your Thirst”. Called “The Hawk Blood Deck” and priced at $500, the decks sold out on Liquid Death’s website within 20 minutes.

Tony Hawk’s Legacy

Born in 1968, Tony Hawk became a professional skateboarder when he was just 16. He is considered one of the top skateboarders in the world, according to Biography. Hawk started his own skateboarding company, Birdhouse, in 1992.

The company makes decks and wheels, as well as promoting a skate team of professionals. In 2002, he started the Tony Hawk Foundation; the foundation provides funding and technical support to build skate parks in low-income areas.

Hawk’s achievements span a 17-year career, where he has won over 70 skateboarding contests and two gold medals at the X-Games. He has created a plethora of tricks over the years, most notably the “900” where a skater must rotate 900 degrees in the air, the equivalent of two and a half turns. Hawk also launched a series of video games, starting with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999.

In 2020, Activision remastered Pro Skater 1 and 2 for PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Liquid Death’s Good Cause

Despite the gimmick and their lofty price, the decks are being made for a good cause. Hawk mentions it in the video, but Liquid Death has paired with the Tony Hawk Foundation to do some good. Liquid Death aims to kill plastic pollution with their aluminum cans.

The website claims that “the average aluminum can contains over 70% recycled material, the average plastic bottle contains only 3%”. In addition, the Tony Hawk Foundation aims to build skate parks in low-income and underserved areas of the United States.

Liquid Death advertises the skate decks as “infused with 100% Tony Hawk.” But will anyone actually skate on Tony Hawk’s blood boards? For $500 dollars, it seems unlikely. But at least they’re being used for something positive.

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