What If You Sponsored A Crew Instead?
Billabong Europe takes the quantitative route.
Disclaimer: You, personally, may or may not be able to outperform the level of surfing depicted in parts of this clip. If that’s not a dealbreaker, read on for why you (maybe?) still want to watch — the whole thing does have an old …Lost movie type vibe, just without the Cory Lopez end section.
Are surf collectives a thing — or just WhatsApp support groups for balding dads with too little foam under their feet?
Billabong Europe is betting on the former.
In the old world, a lot of surfers approach waves with the desperate ferocity of a result-starved Qualifying Series warrior. It can be hard to find someone who well represents surfing’s more creative, cultural delights. Case in point: Name a prominent European surfer who rips alt boards other than William Aliotti (technically born a few thousand kilometers away in the Caribbean). We’ll wait.
And so, the marketing mind must get creative. Enter: Billabong Europe, and The Anti Surf Project.
“Valentin Bourgeon (Head of Marketing Europe) called me in, and I rocked up with a 30-page PowerPoint to pitch him on sponsoring the Woodscote Festival. He told me to close my laptop and open my ears,” says Jordan Sevellec, aka Djoko.
“The goal was to move as far away as possible from the Olympics, yoga sessions, and matcha lattes — and instead reconnect with an era that seems forgotten, when you could still drink beers and show up late to your ASP World Tour heat,” he continues.
“Now we’re building the Anti Surf Project. We back artists, surfers, and skaters like Nothend (Lisboa), Eyeson Fam (Florianópolis), and Keks Machine (Biarritz). We throw parties, drop edits and collections nobody asked for — basically, do things our way.”
The ASP gang dropped their first mid-length clip right in Hossegor last month, amidst the chaos of the Quik Fest.
ASP cult member Sassa Catarino didn’t just star in the surf edit — he also fronted his band Candler, where Stab’s favorite liability, Eithan Osborne, hijacked the mic mid-set. That’s the thing with the Anti Surf Project: it’s never just surfing. It’s music, late-night noise complaints, skate edits, t-shirts you didn’t know you needed, and premieres that feel more like block parties.
And this pseudo-article? Typed by Paco Peruzzo (aka Dane Reynolds’ Lawyer), who co-edited the ASP B KLIPS with Théo Preuilh (aka Titige).
Anyway, the clip’s above — complete with shaky handycam, Jackass vibes, and zero sobriety.
Comments
Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.
Already a member? Sign In
Want to join? Sign Up