Yahoo! News
10 April 2013
When a video surfaced of defending Masters golf tournament
champion Bubba Watson cruising down the fairway on his Oakley-sponsored hovercraft, the
world took notice: It's been seen by more than 60 million people after being
covered by ABC, CNN, ESPN and countless websites.
It's been such a big hit, in fact, that despite the video turning
out to be a stunt by viral marketer Thinkmodo, the manufacturer is moving ahead
with plans to sell the vehicle to the public.
NeotericHovercraft President
Chris Fitzgerald told Yahoo News he plans to produce up to 140 of the
hovercraft models this year and has had to push back his company's other
production orders to keep up with surging demand.
“He’s actually forced to do it because he’s getting so many
inquiries,” Thinkmodo's Michael Krivicka told Yahoo News. “He’s kind of a
celebrity now because of it. Millionaires from Russia are calling him, placing
orders.”
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Bubba Watson and the Thinkmodo team filming "Bubba's
Hover" (Thinkmodo photo)
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Other than for the obvious cool factor, why would someone spend
upward of $50,000 on a golf cart hovercraft?
Fitzgerald acknowledged that it's largely a novelty, but he said
there are a few legitimate reasons. “They have a very low environmental
impact,” Fitzgerald said. “They can also get up to 50 mph. You can literally
fly over a water hazard.”
In addition, Fitzgerald said, he’s tweaking the golf cart cabin to
make it more spacious. However, he was quick to note that along with the
relatively steep price tag, this golf court requires flight training.
“It’s about a 12-hour course,” he said. “But when you’re done, you
could fly your friends around the course.”
Still,
Krivicka pointed out that not everything in the video, called "Bubba’s
Hover," is entirely real. For example, in its current form, the hovercraft
is loud. And it doesn’t do well when traversing bumpy terrain, as a hovercraft
is drawn to depressions in the ground. For example, if you drove next to a
ditch, you’d probably end up crashing into it.
“The idea was a collaborative thing from us, Oakley [who is also
Watson's corporate sponsor], Bubba and Neoteric,” Krivicka said in an interview
from Thinkmodo’s New York offices. “It literally all started with a napkin
drawing. It has already become the most successful marketing campaign ever for
Oakley.”
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The napkin drawing that lead to the creation of a golf cart
hovercraft (Thinkmodo image)
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“I’ve been in this business for 50 years. You can pull your hair
out trying to figure out how to get this information out that this technology
exists,” Fitzgerald added. “In one fell swoop it’s gotten across all these
hovercraft concepts to people.”
“Pretty much everything you see in the video is real,” Krivicka
said. “But we staged the crowd reactions and specifically chose a golf course in Arizona that suited our needs.
But the bottom line is you can now purchase a flying golf cart.
About Thinkmodo:
Founded by former Saturday Night Live producer James Percelay and social media maven Michael Krivicka, Thinkmodo is the mastermind viral video agency behind campaigns such as the Times Square Hack for Limitless and the flying people campaign for Chronicle. Their recent video for Popcorn Indiana's Popinator has surpassed two million views on YouTube. Bubba's Hover is Thinkmodo's most successful campaign to date.
