Bernie O'Dowd

Before helping create some of the most notable campaigns of all time from Taco Bell’s speaking Chihuahua to a suicidal robot in General Motors’ Super Bowl spot (for agencies like Deutsch LA, Chiat and Team One), Bernie was a professional skateboarder. Turned pro in 1989 and once sponsored by Airwalk, Bernie was widely known as “Backwards Bernie” for his backward “fakie” and spin moves.

“I’m a switch skater,” says Bernie. “I’m ambidextrous. I can skate either way.”

He also created Toxic, a popular and now collectible 80’s skateboard design. Backwards Bernie still skates competitively and spends two nights a week in the Santa Monica skate park when he’s not at Battery working on some of the hottest campaigns in the industry including the launch of Warner Bros. Mortal Kombat X and Batman Arkham Knight, and NBC Universal’s new comedy network Seeso. He also continues creating skate art, and teaches his 30,000+ Instagram followers (@sk8boardingsaves) how it’s done.