The fight against marine plastic pollution

Adidas and Parley had partnered for several years in a row for World Ocean Day but in 2018, they wanted to grow their impact. Coinciding with the release of its sustainability-focused shoe, Adidas wanted to publicize the Parley Run for the Oceans partnership, their up-cycled product line, and a digital fundraising running campaign to go along with their ocean sustainability efforts.

While working with the Adidas marketing and creative teams, we concluded that one of the best ways to draw attention to this cause and partnership was to commission a massive piece of experiential art and place it in a high traffic location near the ocean. We landed on the famous Santa Monica Pier and the rest was history.

More than a movement

Our team secured a spot on the Santa Monica Pier and booked artist Eric Rieger (HOT TEA) who is famous for his innovative yarn work. Rieger and a team assembled strands of yarn in various shades of blue and white in a gradient pattern and when the wind blew the yarn ebbed and flowed like the ocean.

The unique nature of the art propelled people to step off the main drag of the pier, and towards the installation. Subsequently, many became interested in the cause, registering for the digital fundraiser and posting photos with the hashtags #runfortheocean and #adidasxparley on social media.

At the end of it, Adidas and Parley had a record-breaking year with nearly one million runners, a total distance of 12,402,854 km covered, and Adidas matched the the first million, donating $1,000,000 in funding for Parley Ocean School initiatives.

1,000
visitors on the pier
924,237
participants around the world
12,402,854
kilometers run
750
of yarn used to create art installation

Make Art, Make Waves

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