Hoverboards & Surfbikes: Next Gen Sport Stunts By Lexus & DC Shoes

It’s been an impressive week for extreme sport stunt spots. They may not be sponsors or sportswear giants, but those in the industry should take note of two striking August stunts from DC Shoes and Lexus that have been wowing digital audiences with daring engineering, innovative and excitement.

Action sports footwear brand DC Shoes has rolled out a striking digital spot, called ‘Robbie Maddison’s Pipe Dream’, showcasing the stunt rider’s skills riding a dirtbike converted into a surfbike through the giant waves of Tahiti.

The stunt’s back story tells how Madison has spent two years focusing on making surfing on his motorbike a reality.

Deven Stephens, the creative director at DC Shoes, directed the film amongst the world famous waves at Teahupoo and Papara in French Polynesia

Launched with little fanfare and not much media support or promotion, the spot has genuinely gone viral.

On YouTube alone, the webfilm has notched up 16 million views within one week.

Plus it has generated a tidal wave of earned media coverage around the world.

The first week of August also saw Lexus launch an online ad featuring skateboarder Ross McGouran riding the auto brand’s genuine ‘hoverboard’.

The premium car brand built the hoverboard using liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductors and magnets and the spot shows McGouran’s revolutionary ride on a purpose-built Barcelona skate park to the soundtrack of Rudimental’s ‘Waiting All Night’.

The climax of the ad, called ‘Slide’, see McGouran leap over a Lexus.

As well as the central 120-second spot, Lexus also released a set of making-of films.

A hoverboard teaser was initially trailed in June to generate excitement around the campaign.

A tactic which seems to have worked as the full film racked up five million YouTube views in its first 48 hours and has now been seen around 10 million times.

The campaign, created in tandem with agency CHI & Partners, generated plenty of news interest and was often linked to the iconic (fictional) hoverboard in 1980 Hollywood blockbuster Back To The Future.

The campaign was created by Brad Woolf and Dan Bailey and the film itself was directed by Henry-Alex Rubin through Smuggler.

The commercial is the fourth in Lexus’ ‘Amazing In Motion’ series – all developed by CHI & Partners – that aims to position Lexus as an innovators in creating enjoyment out of motion.

Mark Templin, Lexus International’s executive vice president, said:

‘Embarking on this project, we set out to push the boundaries of technology, design and innovation to make the impossible possible,’ outlines Lexus International EVP Mark Templin.

‘With this project we call ‘slide’, we collaborated with partners who share our passion for creating enjoyment out of motion. Even through combining our technology and expertise, we discovered making a hoverboard isn’t an easy process.

‘We’ve experienced the highs and lows and have overcome a few challenges, but through mutual determination we have created a demonstration of our philosophy in design and technology to create Amazing in Motion.’

Comment

Neither of these viral spectaculars are sponsor activations, but both could have been.

Both of these stunning films feature innovative-engineering, extreme action and offer a glimpse of the next generation of extreme sports?

The hoverboard doesn’t actually run on regular surfaces, but rather flies above a magnetic track (which in this case is hidden with a thin layer of beneath the ground).

Sadly for skateboard trickster and Marty McFly fans, Lexus has no intention of producing the hoverboard as a commercial product.

Links:

DC Shoes Pipe Dream Website:

http://DCShoes.com/PipeDream

DC Shoes Facebook:

http://Facebook.com/DCShoes

DC Shoes Twitter:

http://Twitter.com/DCShoes

DC Shoes Instagram:

http://Instagram.com/DCShoes
#DCPipeDream

Lexus International Website:

http://www.lexus-int.com/

Lexus International Facebook: