Highway star

Road movies, that Steppenwolf song, Kerouac and his kilometric epistles, Bob Dylan on a motorcycle, not wanting to end up like Whitnail and his unnamed cohort going on a holiday by mistake, Thelma, Louise, here’s a truck stop instead of St. Peter’s…. These are the things that remind me of road trips. The kind where you go from point A to point Zen, where Willie Nelson (“Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway…”) or Bright Eyes (“I’m gonna write another traveling song/About all the billion highways and the cities at the break of dawn…”) is blasting from tinny speakers, and where a person realizes that not one sunrise is the same as another.

Sounds a bit too American, eh? Well, iconic American denim brand Wrangler is offering denim-loving, bike-riding Filipinos a chance to turn five days of their lives into a road movie of sorts. In the “Search for True Wanderers” contest, riders residing in the Philippines are asked to submit entries in the form of biking photos with a story on why they should be chosen as a True Wanderer. Ten rider-finalists will be picked out by a panel of bike experts and travel enthusiasts from the pool of entries. The finalists will then embark on a five-day journey in selected places in the country while riding their bikes and wearing Wrangler’s key items. Get your motor running, indeed.

“We are launching this digital campaign starting tomorrow,” says Wrangler Philippines’ Daisy Go. “The 10 finalists will embark on a five-day road trip: either Manila to Baguio to Sagada, Manila to Nueva Vizcaya, or, if they have any proposed itineraries — for example, Manila to Mt. Pinatubo — we are open to that.” It’s an all-expense-paid wandering gig. Participants will be fully outfitted in Wrangler products and will keep a travel dairy (a combination of words, photos and videos), which will be uploaded to the brand’s microsite, www.wranglertruewanderer.com. The better, she adds, “for everyone to experience what you’ve experienced on the road.”

One winner will be proclaimed at the end of the contest and will win a motorcycle — a KTM 390 Duke bike  — and P100,000 worth of Wrangler products. The person will then become the Philippine representative to the Asia Pacific-wide competition, where he or she will go head to head with other True Wanderer winners from across the Asia-Pacific.

Aside from the announcement of the True Wanderer contest, the brand is also launching two new product lines: Wrangler Underwear and Timbercreek by Wrangler. Go shares, “We’ve always carried a lot of non-denim products, so we’ve decided to put a name to the line. For guys, sometimes you need a break from denim, lalo na pag mainit.” Timbercreek khakis boast fabric that is “lighter and more breathable,” just right for our tropical climate.

Underwear, check. Comfy khakis, check. Denims built for the highway, check.

 “Why did we choose the True Wanderer concept?” Go explains. “At the core of the Wrangler brand is the sense of freedom. It’s about going off the beaten path, about conquering new ground, about exploration. And Wrangler wants to be your companion on the open road.”

The bike in itself is a symbol of freedom, she adds; that’s the essence of the campaign. A helpful tip: send photos that will symbolize the concept of outdoor rugged journey; it should go with the core of the brand.

“If you talk about the rich history of American denim, there are only three brands that boast a long history. We’re one of the three. We’re not trying to be the gimmick-wear, not the sexy one, not the grungy one, not the fast-fashion one. Through the test of time, over the past 100 years, we’ve never changed our direction. We’ve always been about the adrenaline-fueled, outdoor, rugged lifestyle.”

Wrangler’s billboards and print ads tell the story: it’s usually sunny, dust and mud everywhere, the landscape beckoning; there’s an imagined soundtrack of jangly guitars and lyrics about being born to run and all.  

Go concludes, “Wrangler jeans are sturdy and durable enough — wherever you travel, we’re there for you. With True Wanderer, we want to inspire riders to get out there and discover their free spirits out on the open road.”

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For information, visit the True Wanderer microsite at www.wranglertruewanderer.com, or follow Wrangler on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: WranglerPH.