We got people living thousands of kilometres away from the sea to care about ocean pollution
Corona and Parley have partnered up to end marine plastic pollution and inspire real change in the fashion and beverage industries world-wide. We needed to bring the story of how plastic pollution in urban areas can affect the oceans to an inland audience in a way that would resonate with them.
In South Africa, there are homeless people who collect plastic waste on handmade carts to earn a living through recycling. They are looked down upon and seen as a nuisance or even a danger.
By creating a link between these street surfers and surfers, we saw an opportunity to shine a light on the positive impact they have in protecting our oceans and turn them into heroes.
We partnered up with Frank Solomon, a South African Big Wave Surfer and ocean activist, to tell their story to the world.
My role in this project was small, yet critical. There were a lot of great ideas for this project, but this was the one we believed in and fought for. As ECD of King James Digital was to sell this idea to the client and make sure we had the right people and partners to ensure we met the KPIs the brand needed us to commit to in order to fund it. We more than met the KPIs and Corona Street Surfers ended up winning a gold and the Grand Prix at Ab Inbev's Africa Zone Creative X awards along with a host of film festival, advertising and PR awards.
Michael Wilson conceptualised and wrote the story based on his observations and a brilliant insight that the way to get people to care about something that happens thousands of kilometres away was to bring the story close to home. Jared Gower provided Art Direction and Justin Oswald was the copywriter.
We initially sold this idea in 2018 and shot the initial parts of it with a different South African Surfer called Michael February, however, the client left and the project was put on hold. Once we had established new client relationships, we started the process again. In 2019, we resumed production with a new production company and Frank Solomon.
Awards and Accolades
2020
Gold. Creative Audiovisual. The Indie Awards
Merit - Under 100k budget - One Show
Best Entertainment & Branded Content. ABInbev Global Creative X Awards
Silver. Online video - The Bookmark Awards
Gold. Excellence in Online Video Production - The Bookmark Awards
Best Direction over 180 seconds - Ciclope 2020
Breakthrough on a Budget - Ciclope 2020
2019
Overall Grand Prix - AbInBev Africa Zone Creative X
Gold. Better World - AbInBev Africa Zone Creative X
1st. Film - Creative Circle Ad of the Month July 2019
2nd. Film - Creative Circle Ad of the Year 2019
SeeMor Short Film Festival Winner - October 2019
Best Documentary - New Earth International Film Festival - October 2019
Short Film Winner - My Hero International Short Film Festival - November 2019
Winner - Surf at Lisbon Film Fest Portugal - November 2019
Short Film Winner - Alternative Film Festival Canada - December 2019
Short Film Winner - The Monthly Film Festival UK - October 2019
Best International Short - London Surf Film Festival - October 2019