If you walk by Oakley’s million dollar ‘Rolling O’ truck this weekend at the Sea Otter Classic – and ask nicely – they’ll set you up with new lenses, ear stocks and nose piece for your existing Oakley sunglasses for free, as part of their ‘spring refresh’.
Just make sure you stuff a $5, $10 or $20 bill into the black box they have there on the table, as it goes to a good cause. At the end of the weekend Oakley plan to hand that money-stuffed box over to MORCA (Monterey Off Road Cycling Association) so that they can help rehab the trails the Sea Otter event uses at Laguna Seca. “We’re not even going to count it,” said Steve Blick, from Oakley’s sports marketing department. “We’re just looking to help the local riders out.”
Should someone walk up with a particularly haggard pair of glasses, Blick will offer to trade them out for a new pair. “We’re not giving away free hot dogs,” he said. “We’re looking to respect and reward those loyally wearing our stuff. We’re not going to sell a thing this weekend, but we’ve got a black box down there we’re hoping people will stuff money into; at the end of the weekend we’re going to hand it over to MORCA, they’re the people who are going to be filling in the braking bumps we all create here this weekend and we want to help them out.”
If you get a free pair of lenses, ear stocks or glasses make sure to stuff some bills into this box; Oakley plan to hand it over to MORCA before even counting it at the end of Sea Otter
Blick stressed that this isn’t a freebie type giveaway, but rather a 'thank you' to the cyclists who support Oakley at the event. “We’re here to be loyal to the loyal people who support us,” he said. “We started in bike [the industry] and we never will forget where we came from. There’s no sign, but come talk to us and ask us about it, and we’ll tell you what we’re doing here.”
We caught up with Jim Beck, who works in sales at Oakley, while he was working flat-out on Friday to build up custom frames for riders in line at the spring refresh. He said he’d done 50 or so by mid-day. We can only imagine the weekend will be insane there at the Oakley sunglass bar.
One Oakley wearer said he stumbled upon it yesterday, had one pair refreshed and came back with the rest of his sunglass quiver today. “They’re giving away free glasses,” he said. “Anyone who gets a free pair of glasses and doesn’t put some money into that box shouldn’t be out on the trails – they’re giving away free glasses!”
The refresh is mostly limited to Oakley’s sport styles
Oakley’s new pre-Olympic ad campaign is titled Beyond Reason, as in purpose beyond reason, explained Blick. “Everything can be made better,” he said of Oakley’s philosophy. And this weekend, Oakley want to bring that philosophy all the way down to those tired glasses on your head.