Puma Social: Surfing

PUMA Social recognizes the largest group of unsponsored athletes out there: the After Hours Athletes. Athletes who choose jeans over spandex, the bar over the gym, and who know coming home at 6 a.m. is just as hard as getting up at 6 a.m.For the past three years, Droga5 New York have heralded these athletes, recognizing the games they play (ping-pong, darts, pool, and bowling, in case you were interested), the arenas they play in and the rules that they play by.And in doing so, we’ve helped define an entire new category of athlete—one that the majority of us belong to.But today, as we enter the fourth year of Puma Social, we have identified an even greater threat to the After Hours Athlete than a hangover: reality television.Today, reality television programs have come to dominate our cultural zeitgeist.
Meaning that more and more people are spending time watching life instead of actually living it.A fact that is perhaps even scarier than the untalented celebrities and obnoxious pseudo-stars occupying our televisions.
Reality television is the antithesis of what PUMA Social represents—living life—and we won’t stand idly by while people turn into reality couch potatoes.
That’s why for the latest PUMA Social release, we’re highlighting the tragic irony of watching reality television instead of actually living in reality.
Offering viewers a choice: do they want to spend their night staring at televised strangers, or do they want their night to be more? A time when they live life, instead of just watch it. A time when real friends replace reality stars.This 90-second film juxtaposes a slew of reality television audio clips with visuals of life being played. It celebrates those who choose to ignore the banality of today’s reality television climate in favor of creating their own stories with friends and teammates. Furthermore, the film encourages those of us not out already to get off the couch.Because, in the end, life deserves to be played, and channel surfing is not a sport.