MINI USA partners with Tony Hawk

• Hawk performs thrilling, MINI-inspired stunt to announce partnership
• Partnership between iconic brands a natural fit to build passionate communities around an otherwise individualistic action
• MINI USA to support Birdhouse Skateboards Tour and Stand Up For Skateparks event, as well as create co-inspired skateboard for charity and giveaways

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – May 19, 2014… MINI USA is proud to announce a partnership with action sports star, Tony Hawk.  Unable to contain the excitement on both ends of the table – or ramp – Tony and the MINI team pulled off an exhilarating, one-of-a-kind skateboard stunt to announce the partnership.  Check it out now at MINIUSA.com/tonyhawk.

The partnership doesn’t stop there.  MINI will become the official vehicle of Tony Hawk’s Birdhouse Skateboards Summer Tour, meaning some of the world’s best skateboarders will be motoring from city-to-city this summer in a fleet of customized MINI Countryman. In addition, Tony will make a number of appearances at MINI USA events and design a co-inspired, limited-edition skateboard that will be auctioned off for charity and given away as prizes at events around the country.

“Tony Hawk is an original and an icon, who, over the years has built a loyal community of individuals around him and his brand who share a common interest and an active lifestyle,” said Lee Nadler, Manager of Marketing Communications, MINI USA. “The MINI brand and the MINI community share many of those same passions when it comes to originality, customization and style. Our partnership was a natural fit.”

In addition to sponsoring this summer’s Birdhouse Tour, MINI USA will also support the Tony Hawk Foundation by sponsoring the Stand Up for Skateparks event at the 11th-annual action sports carnival on September 21, 2014 in Beverly Hills, Calif. The event will showcase the best talent from the world of skateboarding and BMX.  MINI will also be donating to a number of live and silent auctions to benefit the Foundation, which awards grants to underprivileged communities to help fund the building of skateparks around the country.

“Owning and driving a MINI is like skating and being a part of the skateboarding culture and community,” said Hawk. “MINI and skating are about design and self-expression; they are about building a community around something that is otherwise very individual.”

Both considered icons by their loyal fan base and communities, Tony Hawk and MINI have shared a unique alliance since last November when Tony purchased  – and jumped over - his own MINI John Cooper Works Countryman. The buzz around Tony and his new MINI gained even more attention when Tony held a contest on his social channels asking his fans to name his new MINI, a tradition among MINI owners.  Tony’s MINI is now called “Maximillion,” after Gumball 3000 founder Max Cooper.

About MINI in the US
MINI is an independent brand of the BMW Group. In the United States, MINI USA operates as a business unit of BMW of North America, LLC, located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey and includes the marketing and sales organizations for the MINI brand. The MINI USA sales organization is represented in the U.S. through a network of 119 MINI passenger car dealers in 38 states. MINI USA began selling vehicles in the U.S. in 2002 with the introduction of the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S Hardtops. Since then, the MINI Brand in the U.S. has grown to encompass a model range of seven unique vehicles.

About Tony Hawk Inc.
Founded by Tony Hawk in 1998 and based in Vista, CA, Tony Hawk Inc. is a world leader in its field with the unprecedented ability to bring alternative sports and their unique lifestyle to the masses while maintaining an indispensable edge of authenticity with the market's hard-core, trendsetting audience.

About the Tony Hawk Foundation

A charitable, non-profit organization, the Tony Hawk Foundation was established in 2002. THF promotes and provides technical assistance and funds for high-quality public skateparks in low-income areas throughout the United States that promote healthy, active lifestyles, and to International programs that enrich the lives of youth through skateboarding. Domestically, the Foundation’s Skatepark Grant program has awarded over $5.1-million to 544 communities in all 50 states.

Journalist notes: Media information about MINI and its products is available to journalists on-line at www.miniusanews.com.

Consumer information about MINI products is available via the internet at: www.MINIUSA.com.