The Philippine island of Siargao is one of Asia’s leading surf destinations, even voted the Best Island in Asia in the 2021 Conde Nast Travelers Readers Awards. Throngs of tourists flock to the island for its epic swells and laidback surfing culture.

But on December 16, 2021, Siargao Island was devastated by category-5 Super Typhoon Rai, leaving little but scrap wood in its wake. Typhoon Rai became the second costliest typhoon in Philippine history—destroying everything on the island from basic shelter & infrastructure, to community boats and all means of livelihood. Relief efforts poured in to help Siargao, but morale and tourism continued to struggle even coming onto a year since the storm.

Mountain Dew wanted to help Siargao’s surfers rise again with an uplifting design campaign. The goal was to inspire interest and aid, while drawing positive attention for the island’s reopening surf tourism.

The idea of Scrapboards is to show Mt Dew's support for the typhoon-hit surf island of Siargao, by taking the broken pieces from destroyed boats and houses and using plastic resin from recycled Dew bottles to create something new and valuable. In doing so, we aimed to provide tangible symbols of recovery for the island, and capture the sentiments of the community. We also wanted the Boards to capture the imagination - and bids - of potential buyers from around the world.

Mountain Dew is a brand that champions the spirit of adventure, with its mainly 18-24 year-old Gen Z demographic of thrill-seekers continuously looking for more relevant and authentic brand experiences. Regional research conducted among 1,800 respondents showed that, when asked to nominate what causes brands should champion, environment-related themes came out on top.

We wanted to make our commitment to sustainability tangible by creating a symbol for the Siargao surfers’ unbreakable spirit of adventure. By taking what was broken and transforming it into a story of resilience and rebuilding. These could then be used to drive more positive media pick-ups for the island’s slowly reopening surf tourism.

In partnership with the World Surf League (WSL), Mountain Dew sponsored the return of WSL’s 2022 International Surfing Cup in Siargao held in October. The first, after years of closure due to both the pandemic and typhoon. The Re-Dew Scrapboards debuted as the official winners’ trophies for the momentous event.

Used Mountain Dew plastic bottles were pulverized into a neon green resin and combined with the wooden debris left by Typhoon Rai to form the Scrapboards. The Dew resin acted as a binding agent to hold the pieces of debris together in intricate designs inspired by iconic locations around Siargao.

On the anniversary of the typhoon, five surfboard-sized Scrapboards and other Re-Dew collectibles were featured in a gallery-media launch to raise awareness and funds for Siargao’s most affected communities. Mountain Dew turned the pieces over to local NGOs, RISE Siargao & ReMaker Space to be auctioned off for Siargao recovery.

The Re-Dew Scrapboards were a hit with the local and international surfing communities, drawing travelers’ interest during WSL’s 2022 International Surfing Cup. Scrapboards PR coverage reached a global audience - boosting the island's tourism recovery prospects.

Salcedo Auctions—one of the country’s leading auction houses, sold five full-size Scrapboards and Re-Dew collectibles. The proceeds were donated directly to the rebuilding of community boats critical to Siargao tourism and livelihood.

And lastly, this initiative proved good for the business as well. Re-Dew contributed to the phenomenal growth of the brand despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and steep inflationary pressures.

Past 4-Week usage increased from 61% to 67%, evidence of strong market demand. (SOURCE: Kantar Philippines, World Panel)

Finally, Mountain Dew took the #1 spot in its category and became the Flavors leader in 2022. (SOURCE: Canadean Philippines Market Share)