Ad of the Day: Every Wave Is Your First in Samsung's Lovely Celebration of Surfing

Haunting Bowie cover fuels ominous but uplifting spot

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"The first time you hold a surfboard, the first time you ride a wave, the first time you get barreled, the first time you win a world title—it doesn't matter where you are from or how good you are. Every day is day one."

That's how Samsung summarizes its newest long-form ad in the clip's YouTube description, but the words hardly do justice to the visuals assembled by agency partner 72andSunny in Amsterdam. In "Every Day Is Day One," we dive right in alongside surfers facing the dauntingly powerful forces that make the sport both exhilarating and terrifying. 

Created as part of Samsung's global sponsorship of the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour, the ad includes a mix of beginners and seasoned pros like Kelly Slater, Stephanie Gilmore, Gabriel Medina, Johanne Defay and Mitch Crews. Segments were filmed in Iceland, Fiji, India and even the suburbs of New York. 

Helping to maintain the ominous and ambitious tone is the excellent soundtrack, a cover of David Bowie's "Absolute Beginners" by singer Angela McCluskey, whom you might remember from her work with Telepopmusik, and pianist Paul Cantelon.

The message of perpetual discovery is one often noted by the world's greatest surfers. 

"Every single time you paddle into a wave, it's a new wave," Gilmore told the ad's creators. "It's never broken before, and you'll never see it again."

CREDITS
Client: Samsung
Agency: 72andSunny, Amsterdam
Executive Creative Director: Carlo Cavallone
Creative Director: Paulo Martins
Writers: Lee Hempstock, Damian Isaak
Lead Designer: Robert Teague
Designer: Renee Lam
Group Brand Director: Caroline Britt
Senior Brand Manager: Rebeccah Lowe
Brand Co-ordinator: Nicholas Rowland
Director of Film Production: Stephanie Oakley
Film Producer: Eline Bakker
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Madelon Pol
Business Affairs Co-ordinator: Sabina Gorini
Strategy Director: Stephanie Newman
Strategist: Nathan Manou
Director of Communications Strategy: Simon Summerscales
Junior Strategist: Daniel Asplund
Client Director, Global Partnership Marketing, IM Division: Hoon Kang
Client Senior Manager, Global Partnership Marketing, IM Division: Daniel Kim
Client Manager, Global Partnership Marketing, IM Division: Kim Hyunmin

Audio Post Facility: Wave Studios
Sound Supervisor: Alex Nicholls-Lee
Sound Design, Mix: Ed Downham
Audio Post Producer: Ben Tomlin

Production: Exit Films, Melbourne; Smuggler, London
Director: Mark Molloy
Executive Producers, Exit Films: Corey Esse, Emma Laurence
Executive Produdcer, Smuggler: Chris Barrett, Fergus Brown
Producer: Martin Box
Director of Photography: Greig Fraser
2nd Unit Director of Photography, Underwater: Chris Bryan

Editing: Marshall Street Editors, London
Editor: Patric Ryan
Assistant Editor: Elena De Palma
Edit Producer: S.J. O’Mara

Postproduction: Glassworks, Amsterdam
Lead Flame: Urs Furrer
Flame Artist: Bob Roijen
Colorist: Scott Harris
Executive Producer: Armand Weeresinghe

Composition Title: "Absolute Beginners"
Written by David Bowie
Published by Jones Music America (ASCAP), administered by ARZO
Publishing for North America and Jones Music America (ASCAP)
Administered for the World except North America: RZO Music
Master Recording: The Rumor Mill
Producer: J. Ralph
Co-Producer: Arthur Pingrey
Performers: Angela McCluskey, and Paul Cantelon