Are Hunter S. Thompson Converse sneakers on the way?
John Clarke Jr. blogs at Radar that the estate of Hunter S. Thompson is in talks with shoe company Converse about a gonzo-branded edition of Chuck Taylor low-tops. Clarke writes that the discussion has been ongoing since 2005, shortly after the writer fatally shot himself. Snip:
"Since he bought his first pair in the early 1960s in San Francisco he has worn them every day of his life," the author's widow Anita Thompson tells Radar. "There are still over 70 pairs of them at the house."Link.That hasn't stopped some from crying "sellout." And it's tough to tell whether Hunter himself would have approved of the endorsement. He was never against making a fast buck. He always loved schemes, but was always generous and never greedy. In the 1970s, he had no problem posing for Levi photo ads. In 1999, when I convinced Porsche to loan him a new car to test drive for a review in the San Francisco Examiner Magazine, he got slapped for shilling. And he could've given a fuck. He thanked me. We talked on the phone for years afterward.
Image: Converse ad with Dr. Thompson at far left.
the latest
latest episodes
Oh god. Whether or not Hunter would approve, I think the thought of Hunter thompson sneakers just made me throw up a little.
Weird. Or another way of making a fast buck of hero worship. Or... I have to agree with Kate... it makes me a feel a little icky, too.
Mindy
Sellout? bah!
gimmie a pair or 12. I think it's a great idea. Keep us posted if/when they go on sale? I just hope Chuck Corp doesn't mark them up too much.
I dunno...if I were famous, and a company wanted to pay me to say that I use their crap....when I actually DO use their crap (and enjoy it) in the first place, is it a sellout?
What if this actually promotes sales of his books, and encourages people to find out more about him? Is it a bad thing then?
This could be a new and unique way of promoting literacy. Imagine branding the "cool" products with literary personalities. It certainly beats sports stars, or *gasp* rock stars.
Note: These are random questions that popped into my head after reading the post, and do not necessarily represent how I really feel about this.
Note pt. 2: I love Chucks, and I love HST. If these do come out. I would have to admit, that I probably would buy a pair.
I think that the whole deadness factor is a big part of the creepiness. How would you feel about becoming the spokesperson for jock itch cream or tampons after you're dead and have no say over it.
i agree with #3 -- crying "sellout" is ridiculous in this day and age, when all the bands from the 60s through the 90s are cashing in any way they can, and newer bands recognize that it's just good business and marketing sense. bring on the gonzo chucks, i say.
@ #4 POSTED BY NEPHILIM:
The main reason people bought Chucks back in the day was because they were cheap and relatively easy to maintain.
What if this actually promotes sales of his books, and encourages people to find out more about him? Is it a bad thing then?
More people own Che t-shirts than have actually ever read Che's bio.
I don’t know if “sellout” is a correct term, but it’s ghoulish for the dead to be re-appropriated to push sneakers.
What’s next? Lester Bangs special edition cough syrup? “100% pure and free of psychotic reactions and carburetor dung. Some restrictions may apply.”
just get a pair of white lowtops. that's what he was wearing.
do you want to be fashionable, or do you want to be an amphetamine crazed warrior burning down the mutant highway, prepared for the worst and keeping your ankles cool?
@ #8
Yes, I know this. I was around back then, and buying Chucks. This hardly has any relevance to the article, or my posting.
So challenge people on it. It's fun, I do.
Either way, you obviously didn't read the note at the end of my post.
@8: Che Guevara on a Tshirt is more ridiculous than HST design sneakers. HST was not a political idealist whose own belief system would have caused him to vomit at the thought of his visage selling Tshirts to people ignorant to his cause. HST liked to take drugs and write creative non-fiction, and often he had something to say about a country he loved, but often felt pissed-off at.
He was a writer, doing something he loved, but he wasn't a saint--it's not inappropriate in the way Che shirts are. The Gonzo symbol is damn snazzy--it would look pretty damn sweet on a pair of Chucks, and since I wear them often anyway, and so did he, it's sort of odd to care. I mean, if you're pulling the "he's dead" factor, so is Jesus, but I see his image on damn near everything. Death doesn't matter except to the living.
I realize it was hyperbole, but HST didn't wear Chucks every day...
He appeared on Late Night with Conan several years ago to promote his book Kingdom of Fear, and they discuss the shoes he was wearing - which weren't Chucks (most likely a pair of NIKE IDs because he said he "made them" - for which Conan makes fun of him).
Clip available on youtube (jump to 6:15 timestamp):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6K1PdkAP0k
it's cool, but only if they are designed by Ralph Steadman .
@ #10 POSTED BY NEPHILIM , FEBRUARY 27, 2008 8:32 PM:
Yes, I know this. I was around back then, and buying Chucks. This hardly has any relevance to the article, or my posting.
It’s highly relevant since if you truly enjoy Hunter S. Thompson, maybe actually mimicking the spirit of what he did makes more sense than paying an inflated price for a sneaker that is stamped with a logo.
I don't think HST would mind too much. My only true concern i teenagers today would be turned onto him through the shoes; many of whom will never bother to read his delightful thoughts about the underbelly of America. Then again, he probably wouldn't care too much about that either.
From what I've seen of 'em he'd probably have shot at the little fuckers.
@14: agreed on the Steadman.
@#15
It’s highly relevant since if you truly enjoy Hunter S. Thompson, maybe actually mimicking the spirit of what he did makes more sense than paying an inflated price for a sneaker that is stamped with a logo.
Ah, but how do you know that I don't?
As for the price; the last pair of Chucks that I bought (about 1.5 years ago) cost me less than $50US brand new. Now, I know that $50 is more than it cost in the early eighties, but you do have to account for inflation.
You know, Flying Dog Brewery out of Denver makes Gonzo Beer in his honor/memory. I think we can all agree that that is a very good thing.
http://www.flyingdogales.com/cut-gonzo.asp
http://www.flyingdogales.com/beer-specialty-gonzo.asp
Gonzo Goes Well With
# Chocolate Desserts
# Hearty Beef Dishes
# Cigars
:)
Hey, Converse! I've been wearing high-top Chucks, exclusively, for the last fifteen years... Why tie your product to the fading memory of a deceased writer, when you could sponsor me, Guesstimate Jones, a living, breathing American iconoclast/trickster?
God knows, I could use the revenue, and a corporate sponsorship gig could be just the ticket I need to sustain my hyper-"cool" lifestyle, while simultaneously raising Chuck's brand awareness.
Just imagine: Extreme skeet shooting at this year's SXSW conference! Or maybe Converse can get me a press pass for next year's Davos forum! The possibilities for hillarious gonzo-style branding opportunities are endless...
They were my sneaker of choice for most of my adult life, still are I guess, but I won't buy them anymore-- ever since they stopped making them in the USA I've noted a definite dip in quality; they're not as "spongey" as they used to be when brand new.
Still, it seems like they've never gone out of style. . . walking around in my Chuck Taylors, drinking Moxie and eating a Moon Pie, ahh the good old days.
#4 I once had a Che shirt that said "I don't even know who this is." I thought it was ironic, since it's almost a given that anyone wearing a fashionable Che shirt hasn't read his bio, although these days they might have seen The Motorcycle Diaries. It looks like I missed out on the Che Doctorow shirt, but that meme still has some life left in it.
If you're thinking of buying Chucks, but don't want to support the big corporations, check out Blackspot shoes. The Blackspot anticorporation's name and logos are open source. Some people have suggested that Adbusters is selling out by promoting their own brand, but the shoes are vegan friendly, fair trade, union made, last a long time, and definitely have an attention getting style. Though I expect HST would have just bought cheap plain Chucks and not even cared if they were ethical or vegan or had the double-thumbed fist logo on them, and spent the difference on drugs.
I just hope Chuck Corp doesn't mark them up too much.
Well, "Chuck Corp" = Nike, so take a guess as to what they're gonna do.
I also wore chucks for the last 20 or so years, but I'm on my last pair of black hi-tops that I bought prior to the Nike buyout. I like chucks and all, but not enough to buy nike products. Too bad because I haven't found a suitable replacement. I would go for the blackspots, but I don't like low-tops, and the hi-tops are to eccentric looking for my taste. There were some chuck ripoffs available thru Mother Jones at one time, but they only had red hi-tops, and I don't do red either.
Most people recognise the shoes as his trademark style.If that needs to be stressed with HST or Gonzo logo for you to "get it" you should be punched in the ear.I have 4 prs of Chucks but not low-white.I'd look at my feet and be sad.
The nike thing ain't too cool either.
Might be a good idea for the family of James Dean to market white t-shirts though.
Boneheads.
Don't live his life. Just wear a logo of him on your FARKING SHOE OR TWO?
Hunter was not a normal guy. The connection between his Amiglia and hi hippocampus was congenitally slight, if not absent.
Walk a mile in his moccasins? BASTARDIZATION ALERT.
Walk a day in his life, barefoot.
I declare barefoot day.