The New Deal #1.

"As long as we're not a rock - n - roll band and we don't make coffee..."

I think that the tag line of not being a rock - n - roll band or a coffee company has to be the greatest intro ever. It was so appropriate for a new skateboard company in 1990 and that philosophy should still hold true, but the business is a little bigger these days. The New Deal started that summer and this was their first ad. The bulk of the Schmitt Stix team left the Vision empire and started something new. Besides bringing yellow and black layouts to skateboarding, the New Deal, along with H - Street, Blind and World Industries ushered in a new era of street oriented skateboarding. These companies were the complete opposite of Powell Peralta, Vision and Santa Cruz. They weren't big when they started, but were much smaller and owned by skaters who were still in their prime. It was the hot new kids with a fresh look versus the old corporate dinosaurs. Although in retrospect, the corporate dinosaurs weren't that far removed from skateboarding and had only been around fifteen years at the most. At the time in 1990, there was still room for both in the industry, but that would change very quickly.

Thrasher - June 1990 Volume 10 Number 6