The Vans Off the Wall Skatepark in Huntington Beach opened March 22, thanks to a $2 million investment from the Cypress-based shoe and apparel company.
The 42,500-square-foot park on Center Avenue features 2,000 feet of “grindable metal edges;” numerous ramps and stair sets; one 5-foot bowl; and one 10-foot bowl.
Jack’s Garage, a nearby skate shop, sells merchandise by Vans and other brands and houses a pro shop for skate equipment and rentals.
Some 1,200 skaters and visitors flooded the free venue in the first two hours of operation.
“Huntington Beach is the literal and figurative epicenter of action sports on the planet, and to not have a full-fledged skate park here, it was a big miss,” said Doug Palladini, Vans Inc.’s general manager, whose staff will also maintain the skate park. “So now to have the biggest surfing contest in the U.S. with the U.S. Open and the biggest skateboarding park, both in Huntington Beach, both in partnership with Vans and the city, that says a lot about our brand. Another thing that is super important for us is to give back. Skateboarding is our heritage, our roots … and the bigger we get, the more we feel it’s critical that we give back. … All these kids skating here are wearing our shoes, and they pay for those shoes, so this is something that we can do to say thank you to them and constantly reinvest in our heritage.”
Anatomy of an Ad
Ever wonder how a commercial is put together?
Dublin, Ireland-based Experian PLC, whose North American headquarters is in Costa Mesa, posted a two-minute “Behind the Scenes of Experian’s Projection Mapping Commercials: Mini-Documentary” on its YouTube channel. The video, narrated by Belgian filmmaker and director Filip Sterckx, explains the “projection-mapping” technique used to create Experian’s three most recent 30-second TV ads: “Cosigning for Daughter,” “Travel Fraud” and “Car Loan.”
The technique enabled Sterckx to “project images on multiple surfaces to create an animated world around the actor, who was actually walking on a treadmill in an empty sound stage.”
“It’s very different than shooting something in a green screen studio and adding the elements after the effect,” he says in the video. “Actually now everything was ready before and projected out, all of our backgrounds on to the scene, so it was done [in real time], and everything happens in camera.”
Production of the commercial was done by HSI Productions in Culver City for Experian’s advertising agency of record, the Martin Agency of Richmond, Va.
Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc. posted a similar, one-minute video about the making of “Nice,” the automaker’s Super Bowl ad for the 2014 Elantra. The focus of Hyundai’s behind-the-scene reel was less on technology, though, and more on actors Johnny Galecki, Ciara Caneega and Richard Lewis, as well as the production crew and the stunts used to create the commercial.
“If I do this spot, and 200 million people see it, and the sales skyrocket, what about a free Elantra?” Lewis said at the end of the video. “What about that? Is that too cocky?”
Genesis “Blind Test”
Hyundai’s two new ads for the 2015 Genesis feature stunt drivers and showcase a vehicle with blacked-out windows on a “blind test drive.”
Professional driver Rhys Millen puts the automatic emergency braking feature to the test in one video and the Lane Keep Assist feature in another.
The ad also features extensive warning labels, discouraging viewers from attempting to “drive a vehicle with windows covered.”
The ads were created by Huntington Beach-based InnoceanUSA, Hyundai’s advertising agency of record.
Bits & Pieces
Mazda North American Operations in Irvine will celebrate 25 years of the MX-5 Miata at the New York International Auto Show on April 18. Mazda said it will display “15 MX-5 vehicles, from auto show concepts to race cars to production models.” … Kia Motors America in Irvine renewed its partnership with golfer Michelle Wie. She will continue as global spokesperson for the Kia brand and appear in advertising, marketing and promotions, complementing Kia’s partnership with the LPGA. … Tustin-based HKA Inc. Marketing Communications hired Andrew King and Lauren Stracner as new account managers.
