Bringing Christmas Cheer With Hyperice
It's been a tiring year following politics. Thankfully, I've been drawing about more than overweight presidents.
Over the past year, I've been lucky enough to start a web cartoon series for Hyperice, a leading provider of fitness recovery gear.
Their products already have an impressive list of endorsers, including Clippers All-Star and slam dunk champion Blake Griffin, Olympic gold medalist skier Lindsey Vonn and Cardinals All-Pro Patrick Peterson.
Now Hyperice has one more influencer, just in time for Christmas: Santa Claus.
Okay he's not technically real, but still pretty famous. And though Santa may not look athletic, lugging around presents for every child in the world in one night is quite a workout! That takes a toll on the back and hamstrings, just as controlling a sleigh must be killer on the arms and shoulders.
Santa needs a good foam roller and compression wrap just like the rest of us.
And so "Move, Santa: A Holiday Hypertoon Original" was born. It's the story of how Hyperice's top products (the Vyper vibrating foam roller, Venom heat belt, and the Hypersphere massage ball) teamed up to help Santa on his Christmas voyage.
What made this web cartoon extra special was poetic ingenuity from Hyperice CEO Jim Huether.
We had originally brainstormed a four-panel layout. But Jim sat down and, over a glass of wine, wrote a complete parody of "The Night Before Christmas" instead. The end result was a set of seven awesome illustrations to accompany the verses below:
Twas the night before Christmas, Santa had to MOVE fast.
But the real question was….. would his back last?
He called upon Prancer and Dancer and Vixon,
He had to know how his aching back could get a fix’n.
Vixon replied quickly, "Santa, first, you must hydrate",
"You must then use the VENOM, this will heat you and vibrate".
In utter excitement, Santa jumped out of his sleight seat.
“Do you really mean I can just sit here and heat?”
It was half-way through the night, Santa had a long way to go.
Down a chimney he slid, when he felt his hammy go.
"Oh no, Rudolf, I can’t move, what do we do?"
"How do we visit all the kids that were nice, I have not a clue”.
"Don’t you worry Santa", said Rudolf, "I have an answer for you, but we must hustle."
“Take this VYPER and roll, it will help loosen and relax your muscle."
“Wow", said Santa "I feel so mobile and free."
"Let's keep moving Rudolf, we have so many houses to see”.
Now, Santa was back on his way
with venom and vyper along with his sleigh
It was just minutes before Christmas and Santa was done,
There were no houses left to visit, not a single one!
"Oh, Mrs. Claus, that was a close call, I need to stay more fit”.
"Luckily, I was able to keep just one Vibe Tech Kit".
And there it was, another successful Christmas endeavor.
Happy Holidays from Hyperice, we hope to help you all move better!
The Hyperice team was a pleasure to work with (hats off to social media guru Star Sage), and I was glad to hear that these cartoons helped them top their holiday sales goals.
I even ordered a Vyper for my older Sasha, who, as a talented wedding photographer and avid crossfitter, always relies on foam rollers for recovery. Sasha brought the Vyper to his Christmas workout at CrossFit Potrero Hill, and it was a hit.
When it worked for Santa, was there ever a doubt?
