When Sean Keane was fired by Rollerblade, rollerblading’s so-called “straight talking paparazzi” came in to bat for the global corporation. Why? Good question! We have provided a response to his key delusions. For the most part, these stem from Wheelscene’s adoption of Hyser’s LinkedIN neo-liberalism, and the fantasy that any of this is rational. For Wheelscene, of course, it’s all ‘perfectly justified’.
Wheelscene: ‘People get dropped from teams all the time and there’s no official announcement so expecting a brand to suddenly start doing that just isn’t going to happen.’
This is misleading. It is correct that no brand will magically become transparent because someone ‘expects’ it to. For Wheelscene, though, this is enough to dismiss people’s instincts as ‘knee-jerk reactions’. The point isn’t to ‘expect’ transparency but to demand it.
In this particular case, Rollerblade fans are right to be pissed off. Fans liked when Hyser told Jump Street that he would support Sean because he ‘stuck through the crappy times.’ That backing of Sean was a selling point. If Rollerblade want to risk losing that selling point, that’s fine. That’s their business decision. It’s also fine for anyone to get mad as hell.
Wheelscene: ‘The fact is, like, if anyone was going to get chopped from the team he’s kind of first in line.’
Why is this a fact? Why wouldn’t it be Tom Hyser, who only 2 years ago predicted, on record, that the blading boom was here to stay? Two years later, his company can’t even supply replacement soul plates. Nor can it successfully manage its best employees, like Sean. Clearly, then, Hyser could also be first in line. That’s how decision making works. It deals with different possible options. If decision making was as obvious as Wheelscene believes, there would be no need for management. If so, management itself would be first in line. Simply replace all decision making with AI, or — even better — run it on Wheelscene’s free advice.
Wheelscene: He has had persistent serious injuries which again sucks and is unfair, but the fact is if you’re regularly injured and you can’t produce content you’re of no value to the brand.’
Is Sean Keane of no value to the brand if he produces no content? This can only be known with hindsight. Will rollerblade lose sales after firing Sean Keane? If they lose sales from his firing, this proves that he was most certainly of value to the brand.
Is it likely that skaters will support Rollerbalde less after the firing of Sean? It’s certainly more likely if people trust their so-called ‘knee-jerk reactions’. For skaters who have paid attention know that without Sean rollerblade may never have saved its ‘brand’ from a long history of corny-as-fuck marketing and — as Wheelscene reminds us — the many times it has spontaneously fired skaters, including an entire pro team. If Sean Keane had not been loyal through the bad times, there may never even have been a Blank brand. For this required some support from street skaters, support that Sean Keane did the most to create.
Why, then, does Wheelscene dismiss the so-called ‘knee-jerk reactions’? These should not be dismissed. These are the feelings of the people who actually pay for skates. As many comments make clear, firing Sean has ABSOLUTELY devalued the brand.
Wheelscene: ‘I really like him but I completely get it from the company’s perspective. I think it’s perfectly justified.’
Let’s take the company’s perspective. As Hyser himself has said:
‘When collaborating with diverse creative talents, it’s crucial to allocate ample time for each individual to share their insights before reaching a conclusion.’
Why, then, did Sean’s firing come as such a surprise? Why was there not an allocation of ample time for Sean to share his insights before a conclusion was reached?
From what Sean has said, his frustration with being fired had nothing to do with the money. From what Hyser has said, Sean has a 14-year-long record of sticking through the hard times.
It doesn’t take a genius to conclude from this that there were more than the two options of (1) randomly firing Sean and (2) not changing a thing. Clearly, there was the option of Hyser’s very own LinkedIN neo-liberalism: check in with his ‘diverse creative talent’. It is possible that Sean might have accepted a new contract that better suited both parties. Pay could have been cut in exchange for reduced social media expectations.
If taken, rollerblade would have avoided damaging its brand, but saved money to spend on worse skaters than Sean, skaters who would gladly throw all standards aside to post rolled top sides. Of course, maybe Sean wouldn’t have agreed to this. Maybe this was discussed and he declined. How would I know? All I know is that Wheelscene doesn’t know either and yet — with no evidence — is backing the corporation.
Why? Why should skaters so swiftly bow down while a company forces tik-tock marketing on us? The one thing that has stayed constant for rollerblade for over a decade is Sean. The company has had its ups and downs, but Sean stayed consistent. He has always prized making good, quality skating, not high-quantity trash. It is precisely this dedication, coupled with 14 years of loyalty, that changed so many skaters minds about Rollerblade. For Wheelscene, this is all discarded because Sean ‘offers no value’. Any criticism of this is a ‘knee jerk reaction’. Fuck off cunt.
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