It’s June and if I still lived in my home town of Newport Beach, I’d be waxing up my surfboard (if I had one) and heading for “the wedge” (if I actually knew how to surf).
Okay, I admit it, I’m a wannabe surfer and still intend to learn before I die. As part of this aspiration, I dragged my wife to see “Surfwise,” a fascinating documentary about the “first family of surfing.” Here’s a bit on them from the New York Times movie review:
You meet Mr. Paskowitz, or Doc, straight away in the documentary “Surfwise,” Doug Pray’s wonderfully engaging look at love and family and the relentless pursuit of happiness, personal meaning and perfect waves… “Surfwise” has a bohemian vibe and a cool sheen, but it’s an eager-to-please, pleasing commercial enterprise with a reassuring narrative arc (happy, sad, happy). Once Doc’s origin story has been told (the movie says he introduced surfing to Israel), the story moves into its most fascinating phase, namely that stretch in the 1960s and ’70s when he and his wife, Juliette, a Mexican-American looker with an apparently sturdy constitution, raised, with next to no money, eight boys and one girl — David, Jonathan, Abraham, Israel, Moses, Adam, Salvador Daniel, Navah and Joshua — in a 24-foot camper. A few family members repeat the number 24 as if they still can’t believe it; I’m more wowed by the number 9.
Thats right, 11 people living in a 24″ camper, wandering around the world looking for the perfect wave with almost no material possessions. And my son thought it was a little crowded around our apartment when a couple of cousins came to visit! Anyway, it was a fascinating movie and it attracted an eclectic mix of young surfers, older bohemians and all types in between. It also made me hungry for other surfing related movies, which is why a recent article in MediaPost caught my attention:
The 3D movie, “The Ultimate Wave,” a cross between “Endless Summer” (for those of us old enough to remember it) and “Mr. Science,” is a joint venture of the Stephen Low Company, Havoc Films, and Suzuki. Suzuki is backing vehicles like the Grand Vitara SUV, SX4, and its motorcycles, outboards, ATVs–you name it–with a film for IMAX-type giant screen theatres.
The film, co-sponsored by surfer-fashion brand Quiksilver, explores wave formation and wave forecasting technology, and mixes that with music-video-style footage of surfers, waves, spliced with interviews with famous surfers talking about the ultimate wave. The film, to be released in the fall of 2009, stars surfing champ Kelly Slater, who serves as narrator. Suzuki’s cars, SUVs, motorcycles, ATVs and outboard motors are featured. The brand integration also supports Suzuki’s “Way of Life” brand campaign.
Dude, I think Suzuki is on to something here. I’m like totally convinced there’s a marketing as service idea waiting like an outside wave (aka outsider) ready for this client to ride. If Suzuki truly embraces the surfing lifestyle, the services they could provide would be wicked cool. Like picking up kids who are too young to drive and shuttling them to the beach before school and then getting them to school on time. Like helping old dudes like me learn to surf without putting me in the same class with 9 year olds. And like, if they came up with a bunch more services that are more relevant than these, a whole new generation would be saying, “Dude, where’s my Suzuki?”