Welcome to Diesel Island! In 2011 Diesel sets off to create a brave new world for the braves and terminally stupid.
It’s the news Diesel fans all over the world have been waiting for. After years of feeling marginalized by society, of feeling too colorful, courageous, individualistic or merely stupid to the rest of the world, they’re finally getting a place they can call home. In 2011 they can emigrate to Diesel Island.
This is not a vacation – it is a nation. After launching a movement with the Be Stupid campaign, Diesel’s next step is the creation of an entirely new and stupid society: a tropical utopia where the principles of the Be Stupid manifesto can thrive and flourish. What would it be like to start a nation from scratch? To take what is great from the countries we know, and ditch all that is bad? To re-write the laws? To right social wrongs? A country for only the brave?
The print and outdoor campaign images show the first pioneers arriving on the island, living exciting experiences, solving some of the old world’s oldest problems (immigration, healthcare systems, transportÔǪ) with fresher eyes, and holding wild parties to celebrate the birth of their nation. Think Lost, but with nicer clothes and no polar bears.
A raft of cross-media initiatives (viral videos, a Facebook application and a game based on island’s everyday life, a pirate radio, etc) will complement the traditional media outburst, while the Diesel website will be fully integrated with the campaign: virtual visitors to the island will be able to shape its laws, watch videos of island life, meet its citizens – and of course buy island-friendly clothes via the interactive catalogue. And not to forget, the island will have its own Wikipedia entry, updated every week as the emerging society and its rules and regulations evolve.
Meanwhile, Diesel stores will become the official “embassies” of the island, with flags, maps and explanations of the philosophy that led to the creation of the world’s youngest country. Entering the embassies gives everybody the chance to get official Diesel Island citizenship.
What should the perfect society look like? Can it ever exist? Are the outrageously stupid the best people to create it? And again: will Diesel be brave enough to buy a real island and raise a flag of independence? Only time will tell. But first, there’s the dream. As the copy says, “Diesel Island is the least f****d-up country in the world. But give us time.” Diesel Island: land of the stupid, home of the brave.
