“Free Radicals took an insight and turned it into Quiksilver’s most viral moment in years. Griff might have not won the world title but the campaign was the most successful we’ve done.”
Nat Johnson
Global Creative Director
Quiksilver surf athlete–Griffin Colapinto–was poised to win a World in his backyard, Lower Trestles, in San Clemente, California. To mark the moment and support Griff, Quiksilver partnered with Free Radicals to deliver strategy, copywriting, creative, and production of the entire campaign, which included a total San Clemente takeover and dedication video featuring VO from the one and only Matthew McConaughey reading our script.
Everybody loves a hometown hero.
Griff for Champ - 1:20 sec Spot, ft. Matthew McConaughey.
Creating pure magic for an incredible moment.
It started with an insight. We knew Matty McConaughey’s kids loved surfing—and were big fans of Griff. They’d all met in Hawaii, and with mutual friends in common, the connection was there. If we made it easy, we knew Matty would be game.
We shot the film, wrote the script, and sent it via a mutual friend with a straightforward request: a voice note of him reading it. His only condition? Final approval. Six minutes later, Matty sent the recording. We laid the track and finished the film—he loved it.
We released it, breaking the internet—the surf and mainstream press went nuts. It just goes to show where a strong insight can take you.
In normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be easy to enlist an entire town to participate in a production, but San Clemente loves Griff. From locals to surf royalty and even the high school marching band–they all came out of the woodwork to participate in this historic moment, the hometown hero chasing his first World Title in his own backyard.
The socials were carpet-bombed. The reaction was insane.
Fuel.
Griff is a positive mindset devotee. He publicly displays a vulnerability not typically demonstrated by elite athletes. On the other hand, Grif exudes an unshakable confidence that makes him the alpha amongst the elite in our sport.
Spark.
Based on the insight, our strategy was to create a dreamlike pump-up anthem where Griff imagines the entire town of San Clemente coming together to support him–then bring it to life for real.
Fire.
Who better to deliver a message of positivity and stoke than Matthew McConaughey? Working our back-door magic, the team not only got him for the VO, but he did it free of charge. But we didn’t stop there; we hijacked World Title Day with a flood of Griff for Champ signage visible to 10M broadcast viewers.
Views.
3.9M
In the first 24 hours, the video and social posts had over 1.3M views.
Reach.
12M
Utilizing all social channels and partnering with the World Surf League to promote the campaign.
Shares.
+17K
Audience sharing and reposting were also insane.
Comments.
2.2K
People from all over the world dove into the socials to show their support.
