adidas Focus on Cliff Diving to Educate About Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution has become a very real and tangible problem, so it's no wonder that brands are slowly starting to acknowledge this in their advertising, such as last week's Corona campaign from Wieden+Kennedy.

adidas has also tapped into this trend with a new campaign to promote its Parley partnership and committment to use recycled plastic in its new line of Parley trainers as well as raise awareness of ocean fragility. 

Partizan-repped director Matthias Hoene focuses on cliff diver Anna Bader who compares her love of the ocean with the sad reality that the seas are becoming increasingly polluted. We learn about Bader's rigorous training schedule and then see how the surge of marine plastic has affected her dives. 

We caught up with Hoene to find out what it was like working with an athlete to bring her story to life.  

You wrote and pitched the film to adidas. What inspired the spot?

What I love about cliff diving is that it feels raw, wild and close to nature, yet poetic, beautiful and refined. Divers accelerate to 90 km/h before hitting the ice cold water, slowing down to 0 in less than two or three meters.

I haven’t done a cliff dive myself but I remember doing a bungee jump a few years ago and what I found most impressive is that there is a ‘road-runner moment’ in mid air. A moment where time slows down to almost a stand still and the body takes a moment to process what is about to happen. And then, just as you are about to start falling down your body is hit with the realisation of the crazy thing you did when you stepped off that ledge and releases a massive adrenaline rush.

When I started researching the sport I discovered Anna, who was one of the first female exhibition cliff divers in the world, jumping off dangerous rocky outcrops way before anyone else knew what all the fuss was about. I realised that her story hadn’t actually been told and got in touch with her to see if she would be interested in collaborating.

She was very excited about working together and I started talking to potential collaborators.

I was introduced to Adidas and we developed the collaboration with Parley together, introducing the angle of ocean pollution and the thought that the pioneer of female cliff diving went to the birthplace of the sport and discusses how the sport is endangered by plastic pollution.

Adidas are increasingly interested in helping authentic voices tell their stories and I am happy to be part of that movement.

How much of a challenge did you expect communicating adidas’ message of sustainability authentically would be and was it the case or did it just flow? 

I wanted to avoid a film with a too-obvious message, but in the end everything fitted together well. Anna is part of the Save The Cliffs initiative. Hawaii is well known for having a few beaches that collect a lot of plastic waste from across the oceans. And the idea of preserving nature to preserve a beautiful sport and our future just seemed to resonate well with each other.

Tell us about the different scenes… where was the film shot and did the logistics go according to plan? 

We wanted to find a location that felt remote, untouched by civilisation, beautiful, looked dangerous but was actually very safe for Anna and the crew. A tall order but our contacts in Hawaii recommended South Point on the big island which is where we ended up shooting. 

Anna dived fifteen times from the same cliff and climbed up the cliff wall with her bare hands. Crazy but that’s how cliff divers do it. Her husband Kris helped her all the way, so the atmosphere was fun and relaxed. To be honest we were all just so happy to be in such a beautiful spot with a talented gang of people doing good work that there was no stress at all. 

Our cameraman Matt Chavez has a documentary background and he brought his own equipment so we literally started shooting during the recce, filming Anna training, checking out Hawai and we even stayed in the same house that was the location for her breakfast and journey shots.

The spot is three minutes long… Why do you think a slightly longer format works in this case?

Anna is an amazing person and I wanted to capture her hard work, her dedication, her humility and her sportsmanship so the film naturally ended up being three minutes. We have shorter cuts, but for me the longer version does Anna justice, and I hope people enjoy watching it.

How much do you enjoy shooting ads with meaningful messages and why do you think Adidas Dive has decided to take on a more socially conscious angle? 

We as citizens of this world have to take on personal responsibility for how we treat this planet and the people around us. I feel brands and filmmakers have started help raise awareness for important issues and also act as responsible citizens of this planet.