PARIS, FRANCE — In 2022, PUMA is reviving an icon of the 80s and 90s. Launched to high school and college basketball players in the US by PUMA, the model was available in many university colors and drew attention on the courts thanks to its advanced stability and cushioning, the famous anti-shock system. The variety of colors captivated a broader population than just those in the basketball community and spread through American streets from ‘88 through the early 90s.
With the models The Beast, which mixes leather and fake fur, and Slipstream Snake, which imitates snakeskin, the model wins over the very demanding Japanese public and becomes an emblem in the country.
In 2021 and 2022, the brand releases the historic model, reinvented, but still with the silhouette that has spanned all these decades. While Slipstream has conquered American and Japanese youth at different times, the brand wants to make it into a leader in its category, and conquer the “Sneakerheads” around the planet. Kids born after 2000 who grew up with the sneaker culture, and who look to icons of the past.
For the international relaunch, PUMA turned to agency LAFOURMI who created the concept of “Welcome Unbored.”
Bringing together no fewer than 12 ambassadors from different worlds, from athletes to singers and influencers, the PUMA Fam is setting out on an incredible journey.
Jordane Rabute, strategy director of Lafourmi said, “PUMA asked us to create a campaign that would appeal to Sneakerheads born after 2000, who’ve always been immersed in sneaker culture. A demanding target that’s not always sensitive to advertising because they’re overexposed to it. We wanted to give a nod to their desire to change things – style, culture, values, which often move much faster than society. Then there was this word — ‘slipstream’ — the current of air behind fast-moving objects like Formula 1 cars and space shuttles.”
Directed by Frederic de Pontcharra, features more than a dozen of the German brand’s ambassadors in a retro-futuristic film lasting 1 minute and 36 seconds, whose central elements are the Slipstream and the sneakerhead.
The idea behind the campaign: this generation is moving faster than the society in which it lives. Rather than waiting to change it, they will go and create another elsewhere, on another planet. Like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos post-2000 with determined style, without rules.
The PUMA Fam turns a space crew, Slipstream, the coolest in the galaxy, and invites everyone who is bored with society to get on board.
Clément Cimarro, LaFourmi, creative director said, “You can only have an effect on people if you submerge them in an intense universe where the narrative and the aesthetic meet up. That’s what we wanted to do for Slipstream in the Sportstyle category, where form sometimes takes precedence over substance.”
Put an end to boredom and climb aboard a space shuttle piloted by Kingsley Coman, where Memphis Depay and Lamelo Ball are on board to give you safety instructions for an intergalactic journey to a new world full of thousands of possibilities. But, careful, the Slipstream is your only way in.
Floating screens, holograms, and a digital cockpit, the Slipstream universe is directly inspired by space pop culture films like “The Fifth Element”, “Star Trek”, and “MIB.”
The Parisian post-production studio Mathematic, internationally recognized for its work for Coca-Cola, Mercedes, Tencent, Disney+, and more, oversaw visual effects for the film, enriching them with a master retro-futuristic style.
A worldwide campaign
One-hundred percent digital, the campaign relies on an ultra-powerful ecosystem, with the distribution of the film and related content via the cast’s and PUMA’s social media.
The Slipstream campaign will also run OOH throughout Europe (Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin, Milan, Amsterdam, Stockholm) with a broad media plan including giant tarpaulins, metro stations, DOOH, and more.
Thibaut Cornet, co-president of Lafourmi said, “We are very pleased to be behind this particularly ambitious campaign, especially since this one, after many soccer campaigns, marks our first foray into the Sports Style category for PUMA!”
CREDITS:
PRO ATHLETES :
− Neymar Jr
− Romeo Beckham
− Kingsley Coman
− Memphis Depay
− LaMelo Ball
− Armand Duplantis
− Gianmarco Tamberi
ARTISTS AND INFLUENCERS :
− Danna Paola
− Pamela Reif
− Nessi
− Just Riadh
− Imenella
− Don Strapzy
BRAND: PUMA
Brand Managers : Benoit Menard, Laurent David, Messilia Ourak
AGENCY: LaFourmi
Agency Management : Thibaut Cornet, Céline Jobert
Creative Director : Clément Cimarro
Copywriter : Clément Cimarro
Strategic Director : Jordane Rabute
Client Director : Louis Pierre-Adolphe
Account Manager : Mikael Ramirez
Head of Advertising : Laura Conroy
TV Production and Art Buying : Barbara Vaira
Print Art Directors : Coralie Mapouata-Barlerin & Julien Hablainville
PRODUCTION: HVH
Director: Frédéric De Pontcharra
Producer: Nils Haagensen, Maxime Bouyer
Production Director: Adèle Barach
Directory of Photography: Madhi Lepart
Set designer: Lucie Libotte
Wardrobe: Axelle Gomila
Make-up: Pauline du Manoir
Hair: Manon Cana
POST-PRODUCTION
Post-Producer: Damien Fernandez
Chief Monteur: Antoine Deslandes
Assistant Monteur: Nicolas Macé
Étalonnage: Nicolas Gauthier
VFX
Visual Effects: Mathematic
Line Producer: Claire English
VFX: Daniel Rodriguez
Executive production: Falka
MUSIC :
Producer: Joseph Petitpain
Composer: Senbeï
Sound Design: Samuel Jurkovič
PHOTOGRAPHER : Louise Carrasco
Producer: Adèle Villemin
Production Assistant: Bianca Javogue
