Ralph Lauren sponsors Chris Sharma

 Yikes. I wish I could get payed to climb...

Yo homeboy what you drinking man

I'm just waiting on those Ralph climbing polos and approach loafers.

I'm all for people finally making it big, and I generally say "good for you" when others yell "sell out!"

But these made me die a little bit.

First of all cologne is lame. Second of all you will not be wearing cologne while climbing. Getting sponsored and paid is all good but promoting a product totally unrelated to your sport or lifestyle is a little weird.

Someone talked Chris into this, it's not his style.

Tradiban wrote:

First of all cologne is lame. Second of all you will not be wearing cologne while climbing. Getting sponsored and paid is all good but promoting a product totally unrelated to your sport or lifestyle is a little weird.

Someone talked Chris into this, it's not his style.

Ueli Steck was sponsored by a kitchen company. Maybe weird for an American but normal in other parts of the world. 

I don't understand what is the point of them sponsoring a climber considering most climbers are the people who won't touch their stuff.

Climbers are not the clients. They are just for the image. 

Kees van der Heiden wrote:

Climbers are not the clients. They are just for the image. 

Yea, I guess so they just want all the people buying their clothes to think they are climbers even though all the climbers will be making fun of them.

Slow morning, did a quick google search for that image, and for Ralph Lauren ad images. 

The only reference to OP's image was to MP.com - if google hasn't indexed an advertisement image I have my doubts about it being genuine and not a PhotoShop quickie.

ViperScale wrote:

I don't understand what is the point of them sponsoring a climber considering most climbers are the people who won't touch their stuff.

You mean you don't wanna attract these southern mosquitoes with your Ralph Lauren?!? Maybe it'll aid as a tick repellent, ha!

looks remarkably similar to other climbskin ads. 

Amarius, maybe you didn't look hard enough:

https://www.ralphlauren.com/09272017-m-polo-red-extreme-feat/09272017-m-polo-red-extreme-feat.html

ViperScale wrote:

Yea, I guess so they just want all the people buying their clothes to think they are climbers even though all the climbers will be making fun of them.

They could care less about climbers, they are trying to sell an image. "Buy this shit and you will be an adventurous guy with long blond hair married to a model" kinda thing.

simplyput wrote:

Amarius, maybe you didn't look hard enough:

https://www.ralphlauren.com/09272017-m-polo-red-extreme-feat/09272017-m-polo-red-extreme-feat.html

Oops, I did it again :)

Sharma is getting old, by current climbing standards he's pretty much an ancient relic. He probably just wants to bank a few coins so he can retire in style by age 40 and I can't fault him for that. No one wants to be teaching classes in Moab until they're Jay Smith's age, unless they're Jay Smith.

There have been times when I wished my partner had some of that RL cologne!

who cares...

Remember who owns Prana?

It's not like Ralph Lauren is unheard of in the outdoor industry... in the past they have sponsored mountain biking teams - and they might still -just haven't kept up with it.  I say good for Chris -and shame on the haters who would sell out too if they were only offered the chance.

Tylerpratt wrote:

Ueli Steck was sponsored by a kitchen company. Maybe weird for an American but normal in other parts of the world. 

....and Sharma now resides in Spain