Manors And Reebok Declare War On Golf Buggies With Bold 'No Thanks I’ll Walk' Campaign

Reprising a classic Reebok slogan, 'No Thanks, I'll Walk,' the work makes an enemy of golf carts and sends a message that will divide golfers: "Everyone should walk the golf course," say Reebok and Manors.

In the campaign, the golf buggy becomes a symbol for everything wrong with the game — the lack of adventure, the laziness, the efficiency, says the duo. 

The anthem film, produced by Stink and directed by Dan French, follows a group of golfers as they walk the course — exploring the landscape, debating swings and finding lost balls. These scenes are interspersed with the symbolic destruction of golf carts, which are set ablaze, crashed, sent flying and submerged in water hazards, add Reebok and Manors.

The duo says that to tease the campaign, a series of short social films wreak havoc on the dreaded buggies. The buggies are demolished in various ways: impaled on a spiky London landmark, shattered on a high-speed Japanese train track, dropped from a height by a parking removal crane, flicked across a golf course and sunk in water. Assisted by AI and CGI, the videos vary in style from art film to UGC. 

The Reebok x Manors collection will be available globally on Tuesday, 10 June, at 10:00 EST. 

Luke Davies, Co-Founder at Manors, says, "At its core, the campaign is a reminder that golf did not originate with etiquette, rules, stats, dress codes and golf carts — we added all that stuff later. It was a simple game played in nature. Our favourite version of golf is when you throw the bag on your shoulder and explore a new course by foot, and we really hope this campaign encourages people to ditch the cart and do that."

Cameron Temple, ECD at Stink Studios, says, "When you're up against the big players, you need to get noticed and drive home a point of view that people can get behind. Neither Manors or Reebok are known for pulling punches or shying away from brave statements, and that’s what this work is designed to embrace."

Dan French, Campaign Director, concludes, "In some ways, this campaign felt like grassroots filmmaking — lots of creative freedom, running around on a golf course causing chaos and even handling the VFX myself. It was perfect because we wanted it to have a low-fi look and disrupt some of the stuffy things found in golf, whilst still celebrating the sport. The night sequence is my favourite, recalling my attempts at golf and how most of my time was spent trying to find the ball. I wanted to capture the humour and unexpected reality of the game."

For more information, visit www.manorsgolf.com. You can also follow Manors on Instagram.  

*Image courtesy of contributor