"A Course In Style" with Justin Rose for Bonobos
Bonobos
A Course In Style with Justin Rose
Director
Evan Ari Kelman
Year
2023
Director
Evan Ari Kelman
Year
2023
Type
Commercial, Social
Industry
Fashion, Sports
The Challenge
Bonobos is a menswear brand known for its e-commerce focus and high-quality, well-fitting clothing, particularly pants and suits. In collaboration with Transport, our team here at Wild / Factory embarked on bringing their SS 2023 campaign to life.
The Concept
The creative approach for this campaign was to draw from the classic Bob Toski and Jim Flick golf lessons, while also incorporating some unique aesthetic elements of a Wes Anderson-inspired approach. Our director, Evan Ari Kelman, aimed to capture the right amount of nostalgia and celebration of class and style, without ever feeling dated or trapped by the technological limitations of that time. The goal was to achieve a balance of paying clever homage to the classic tone while still keeping our series fresh, modern, vivid, and alive.
Creative Direction
An important aspect of this campaign was to highlight style - from Justin Rose’s swing to Bonobos’ Seersucker Golf Pant to the luscious greens. Bonobos is classic, but modern. We wanted to take that core sentiment and apply it to our campaign with our similarly classic-but-modern pro player. Fun fact, a week before the shoot, Justin won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament, ending a 4 year drought.
Production Approach
We wanted to pay homage to the traditions of the sport while maintaining a fresh feel for a modern audience. The visual language created by our director also took a tasteful amount of inspiration from Wes Anderson by incorporating Anderson's techniques for balanced framing, symmetry, and production design.
Careful prop selection was also critical in refining the tone—details like a vintage golf cart helped reinforce the stylish, slightly offbeat world we were creating.
The Process
In the original Tolski and Flick video lessons, yellow lines appear to articulate the angle of a proper swing. In the finished spot, we used similar motion-graphic dotted lines to draw attention to Justin’s clothing, and to highlight the features of Bonobos apparel. This is an example of how we embraced the classic with the modern.
Celebrity Casting
In addition to casting a champion golfer Justin Rose we proposed a few small but significant additions. A key creative element that shaped the final campaign was an idea our director brought to the table—introducing two caddies as recurring characters. They weren’t part of the original concept, but they added a comedic dynamic and sense of personality that elevated the storytelling. Our team at Wild / Factory designed matching, Wes Anderson-inspired uniforms for them to wear.
The Star of the Show
Location
Look & Feel
The Deliverables
Throughout the process, the collaboration with Bonobos and the Transport was fantastic. They were engaged and involved in key decisions around casting, shot listing, and creative execution, which made for a seamless partnership - and a wonderful end product.
So What?
The campaign was a viral success—entertaining, educational, and impossible to ignore. Airalo’s message landed with both frequent travelers and first-time tourists: ditch the roaming fees, keep the vacation vibes.
Through strategic casting, creative storytelling, and dynamic production techniques, Wild / Factory delivered a compelling campaign that effectively communicated Airalo’s value proposition. The “Bill Shock” campaign stands as a testament to the power of combining humor with informative content to engage and educate consumers.