About this episode

The episode explores the impact of a 1987 Juicy Fruit Gum TV ad featuring snowboarding legends and its significance in popularizing the sport.

The 1987 Juicy Fruit Gum TV ad is an essential time capsule. The stars of 80s snowboarding—Craig Kelly, Terry Kidwell, Tom Burt, Jim Zellers and more—rip on proto-freestyle equipment, juxtaposed against footage of beautiful people having fun in the sun and of course, chewing gum. No hats or goggles were worn in the making of this. Jen and Tricia bring in a triple threat of live human experts—famed filmmaker Greg Stump (who shot the action), plus Tom Burt and Jim Zellers—to do a forensic deep dive on this relic of 80s exuberance. They unearth how the fresh subculture of snowboarding got in the mix on such a big-time Hollywood production. They divulge who the players were, how legit the riding was, and how much everyone got paid. Finally, lest the ad be dismissed as pure nostalgia-core, they discuss the seismic impact showing snowboarding on prime-time TV had on spreading the word to a new generation of would-be riders.

People in this episode

Hosts: Jen, Tricia

Guests: Tom Burt, Jim Zellers, Greg Stump

Topics covered

• snowboarding
• 1980s culture
• TV advertising
• freestyle equipment
• subculture

Keywords

• snowboarding
• 1987
• Juicy Fruit
• TV ad
• Greg Stump
• Tom Burt
• Jim Zellers
• 80s culture
• freestyle

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Juicy Fruit Gum

Books & works: Juicy Fruit Gum TV ad

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