Friday, 03 July 2009 00:00
TB setting up in the Mentawais. Pic Shield
You may have read various reports that Taj was being sued by Creatures for not having their logo on his boards, or saying he wasn’t going to honour his contract, but Creatures are happy to announce that Taj will continue to ride for them until at least 2010, which marks the expiry date of his current, four year agreement.
Rotate shoulders... Pic Shield
Creatures has sponsored Taj for the past 16 years, his entire professional career, and first started giving him tailpads when he was 14. One of Yallingup’s favourite sons, it was only natural that Taj would ride for a fledgling local company, making a name for themselves in the accessories market. Together both TB and Creatures have stormed onto the international surfing scene; Taj with his explosive freesurfing and brace of runner-up World Tour finishes, and Creatures as an industry leader in their field, and as sponsor of world champs Mick Fanning and Steph Gilmore. In May 2009 however, Taj’s management company, TB Endorsements, issued a statement that it would no longer perform its sponsorship obligations for the final 10 months of the existing sponsorship agreement. “It appears that there was pressure being brought to bear on Taj and his management by a third party”, a Creatures spokesperson stated.
Flash sponsors at the camera, but is there a Creatures logo? Pic Shield
“We would have been willing to work with Taj’s management if possible to facilitate an early release, however there were no surfers of a similar calibre available, the Creatures International catalogue had already been distributed and there were tens of thousands of Taj’s signature grips in stock, in production and en route to over 20 distributors around the world – it was simply not commercially possible to release Taj from his contractual obligations at such short notice.”
Throw buckets... Pic Shield
“The decision to hold Taj’s management company to the contract, which is now legally binding, was necessary for reasons we believe they were unaware of. It was unfortunate the way in which the issue was initially reported in the media, suggesting that Creatures was suing Taj directly for not having a logo or similar on his board – that was totally incorrect.”
Disappear. Pic Shield
http://runamukvisuals.com/site/?p=1602
So what the hell is the story here? What does this mean: “It appears that there was pressure being brought to bear on Taj and his management by a third party”, a Creatures spokesperson stated.
Anyone interested in anything like, you know, journalism, to explain this?