Mystery Trees Campaign

In 2005, while in my mid twenties and preparing to launch HippyTree, I wanted to get people and surf shops excited about the brand. We had little more than green tree logo stickers at the time. With zero budget for advertising, we decided to come up with our own form of free marketing. Inspired by street art, my friend and I cut the tree logo into metal silhouettes, tied them together with rope, and hung them from telephone wires near surf breaks from Ventura to San Clemente. With no brand name or explanation, the “Mystery Trees” sparked curiosity and attracted television, newspaper, and news radio coverage. It became a viral marketing campaign before social media was mainstream and before iPhones were even around.