A video of the sport star Bubba Watson riding on a hovercraft has generated 3.5 million views after a couple of days’ release. It all started when Oakley had to create a unique marketing clip to send out the message that Oakley carries golf items and that Watson is sporting the brand. When they gathered for a brain-storming session, the golfer expressed a nagging idea about building better golf cars. “Golf carts have looked the same, they’ve been the same. You got to stay 30 yards from the green. You’ve got to stay on the cart path when it’s raining but let’s have fun. Let’s go through the water hazard, come out by the other side right through the green… Who doesn’t want to do that?” Bubba said. Indeed, who doesn’t? Even people who’d never stepped in a golf ground would want a hovercraft that can drive over water.
Oakley partnered with Thinkmodo, a marketing company famous for their viral video marketing strategies. It was a perfect promotional gig for Bubba as it blended with his sport, and he loved the hover craft idea. Oakley employed Neoteric Hovercraft in Terre Haute, Indiana. The hovercraft experts already had a base model and tweaked it to fit in a golf field. The result was a vehicle that smoothly hovers over the golf greens, and has a footprint pressure 33% less than human tread impact. Called BW1, it carries traditional off-white roof and seats but it can travel almost anywhere around the game area. It can reach through the woods easily, glide on any terrain, over sand and water even.
Hovercrafts make little or no impact at all on the environment. Since it harnesses wind power to run, it consumes less petroleum than a 4-wheel vehicle and it creates fewer disturbances on the environment. Hovercrafts would not need paved roads which would absolutely be wonderful for the soil and the planet in general. This means man could keep the forests and not require cementing large grounds for parking areas. The amphibious hovercraft can be driven over sand banks, marshes, plains and hills better than heavy-loaded cars. It can be even be turned into a solar-powered vehicle because it is lighter and has less drag than a car. And who better be a proponent to this environment-friendly vehicle than a famous golfer and outdoor sports brand Oakley. BW1 could be the start of something great in the vehicle industry.