In a bid to raise awareness about the problem of plastic polluting the oceans and to reinforce the ecological credentials of the brand whilst promoting its new tennis range, Adidas and non-profit partner Parley For Oceans teamed up with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to build a full-size, sustainable pop-up floating court on the reef.
The connected campaign rolled out in the second week of January, as tennis interest spike down under around the start of the 2022 Australian Open, and drove home a message about sustainability led by the frightening prediction that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans.
The full-size Great Barrier Reef tennis court was built around 10km off the coast of North Queensland and floated above the world’s largest coral reef system: the very reef which served as the design and creative inspiration for the Adidas Tennis new apparel line (which is made from recycled plastic).
The initiative was fronted by Adidas ambassador and Australian Olympic legends Ian Thorpe and Jessica Fox, alongside fitness influencer Steph Claire Smith.
Adidas worked with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on the project and brought a group of journalists and influencers out to watch the ambassadors knock up on the floating court to drive awareness and media coverage of the stunt, its message and of the new range.
And the stunt and range was amplified further through social content.
To ensure the campaign itself reflects the message, adidas will ensure the court has a continued lifespan by donating it to a local school in Townsville.
The new line consists of Parley Ocean Plastic (disposed waste that has been prevented from entering our waterways) makes its professional court debut at the Australian Open and the campaign creative highlighted that the range was available online and onsite at the AO from 17 January.
“We’re looking at all possibilities to include and unite people in sport to help create a more sustainable world”, explained Adidas’ Pacific Senior Director of Brand Shannon Morgan. “We need to continue to implement sustainable solutions now, so that we can help create a new era of sport for future generations.”
“We collect plastic off coastal communities before it goes into the oceans and turn it into yarn,” added Morgan. “You’ll see our athletes in the range on the court at the Australian Open on Monday. We’re using a sporting event – the biggest in our backyard – to really showcase the beauty of the reef.”
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Director of Education and Engagement, Fred Nucifora added: “Activations like this that encourage people to consider different behaviors, and then potentially adopt different behaviours in their lives are really important for natural environments like the reef.”
“When this came up, I actually put my hand up and said to Adidas that this something I’d really like to be a part of,” said Thorpe. “I see the water as being this really equitable space. When we remember our holidays as kids, there’s usually a beach that is related to that – hot sand, running into the ocean. It becomes quite emotive. So when we look at what’s happening and the fact that we can go back to some of those remote places and find plastic at the beaches, it can be quite overwhelming,” he continues. “Plastic is the only thing that doesn’t have an end life to it. It will exist in the environment forever. Everything else will, at some point, break down and die. Plastic doesn’t. And it needs to be addressed.”
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As well as promoting its brand and reinforcing its commitment to end plastic waste, the project also saw Adidas add a new commitment to eliminate virgin polyester from production by 2024 and to have nine out of ten products featuring sustainable design, material or technology by 2025.
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