• by Larissa Faw , October 7, 2014

Ad shop 180LA is ushering HP into extreme sports territory through its #BendTheRules campaign.
The tech company may not seem like an obvious brand to endorse extreme sports amid active participants like GoPro, Red Bull, and Mountain Dew. Yet, when it comes to surfing, technology plays an increasingly critical role since surfers use technology to evaluate conditions, find the best waves, and monitor any dangers.

"As their product line continues to grow so do their audiences," says Zac Ryder, Creative Director, 180LA. "We wanted to bring them into the extreme sports realm with a product that fit the lifestyle and a surfer who’s no doubt bent the rules of what is possible."

The campaign includes sponsoring professional big wave surfer Ian Walsh and introducing 'Ghost Wave," a documentary short that follows Walsh surfing remote locations while using the HP x360 Pavilion laptop computer. His ultimate mission is to land a "ghost wave," known as a wave that had never been surfed before.

"The cool thing is when you actually talk to surfers using technology to hunt waves isn’t that unusual to them, says Ryder. “Now with up-to-the-minute buoy readings, wind gauges, tidal charts and web cams, surfers can make a more precise decision of when and where to surf. Portability is key when chasing large swell locally or to unknown destinations, so having the best technology is a must."

This eight-minute short filmed by award-winning filmmaker Taylor Steele follows the surf team as last minute conditions point them to West South Africa. At this destination, the team meets up with fellow world champion surfer Grant “Twiggy” Baker to help evaluate surfing conditions. Of course, their chase is assisted with the Pavilion x360 to monitor conditions and conquer the ghost wave. 

The film was a culmination of a summer-long effort. The agency created a “social surfboard” that featured the Twitter handles of select fans of Walsh's laser imprinted on the board so they could ride the waves with Ian. Then, the campaign featured a run of other rule benders including Angelika McKay of Summerland LA who changed the way people buy groceries and Max Chang who is a VJ that incorporates real-time visual designs into live concerts.

"There was a huge social component to this campaign with our integration with Vine and the first-ever :30 TV ad made of Vines," says Ryder. "The #BendTheRules project was as far as we had scoped out with Ian Walsh but you never know."

HP, which said this week it will split into two companies, spent $367.7 million on advertising in 2013, down from $408.7 million in 2012.