Mistress launched the first-ever ad campaign for the World Surf League, “You Can’t Script This,” with a 90-second spot entitled “Chaos Theory.”
The spot opens with a voiceover introducing chaos theory as “a celebration of the unpredictable.” He continues to wax philosophical about how “the slightest change can ripple across the globe” over a mix of stock footage, World Surf League highlights and original shots. Throughout there’s an implied connection between the voiecover and the world of competitive surfing, celebrating how the sport and its fans embrace chance and chaos. It’s an interesting approach that unfortunately goes well over the top with lines like “We can only bear witness to the wonder,” although obsessive enough fans of the sport may be willing to forgive the overreach, The ad breaks today, ahead of the Billabong Pipe Masters competition taking place later this month, and will be supported through social media.
“We’re focusing our 2015 media spend where our target audiences consume the sport—digital and social,” World Surf League chief marketing officer Scott Hargrove told AdFreak. “As we continue to expand our message and recruit new fans into competitive surfing in 2016, we will rely more heavily on traditional channels. “The goal is to establish an authentic connection with existing surf fans and then carefully expand our message to new fans beyond surfing’s core. “Competitive surfing is constantly changing and evolving…We believe this unpredictability is what makes the sport so compelling and therefore made it the focus of our creative strategy.”