Many have felt uneasy about the dark rivalry between first and foremost political antagonists as of late. What’s with the UK and the EU for instance? Trump and Clinton? Nationalism vs. globalism? And the tone on Twitter has reached new levels when it comes to hate and insults. But why? Rivalry doesn’t have to be gruff. Our rivals make us better, keep us on our toes and are the main reason to our success. This Valentine’s Day, sport fashion brand Björn Borg introduces the world’s first Twitter connected punching bag to encourage a change in the tonality in social media, and show what rivalry is really about; love and respect.
A classic rivalry within sports is the one between Björn Borg and John McEnroe – two of the best tennis players in history. On court bitter rivals, but off court, dear friends for a lifetime with the deepest respect for one another. This is the inspiration behind an initiative by sports fashion brand Björn Borg, encouraging rivals around the world to take the opportunity this Valentine’s Day – and year – to show their rival(s) some love.
On Valentine’s Day, Björn Borg also presents the world’s first Twitter Punching Bag. This is an interactive punching bag with a printed alphabet, and it’s connected to Twitter. Each letter is touch sensitive, and a punch is one letter in a tweet. This punching bag will travel around different gyms and encourages visitors to send their rivals some love with a punch or a kick.
The first person to kick off the activation is Henrik Bunge, CEO of Björn Borg, who sends his love to Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, in a tweet on Valentine’s Day. Nike is the sportswear market leader and therefore challenges Björn Borg to improve and, in turn, inspire other global sportswear brands. The Tweet reads:
“Hi Mark @Nike, CEO Henrik Bunge here. Thanks for being our greatest competitor. All my love for making us better. #DearRival”
Jonas Lindberg Nyvang, Marketing Director at Björn Borg, said:
“We want to encourage the world to use social media in a positive manner, a movement where we honour our rivals. They make us better and deserve our utmost love and respect. Let’s show the world that social media is not only about smearing and frivolity, but actually a powerful tool that we can use to change the world to a better place if we set our minds to it. We think that the Twitter Punching Bag is great way to set this in motion!”
#DearRival
Read more: https://www.bjornborg.com/dearrival
See the video with the Twitter Punching Bag: https://youtu.be/hFU4qJF7Nho
Press room: https://corporate.bjornborg.com/en/section/press/
JONAS LINDBERG NYVANG
Marketing Director
BJÖRN BORG AB
Mobile: 46 707 66 30 22
Email: jonas.nyvang@bjornborg.com
