New brand aims to make ping pong cool

New clothing brand Thompson Punke, which is launching in the US, aims to pick up on the growing popularity of ping pong by ‘combining the spirit of the table-tennis player with a counter-culture attitude’.

Identity
Identity

The Thompson Punke branding has been developed by New York-based consultancy Red Antler in collaboration with James Cooper, formerly chief creative innovation officer at JWT New York.

Red Antler and Cooper say they want Thompson Punke to become identified with ping pong in the same way that Adidas is associated with football and Roxy with surfing.

They point to the growing popularity of ping pong in the US, thanks to initiatives such as a programme to distribute table tennis equipment to schools in New York.

Website homepage
Website homepage

Red Antler and Cooper say, ‘What is this new generation of kids growing up with ping pong going to look like? What’s their style?’

The hand-drawn Thompson Punke brand uses straplines such as ‘hits from the pong’, while clothing features slogans such as ‘cho!’ a Chinese phrase that some players shout after winning a point.

Cho!
Cho!

The brand is currently based around the Thompson Punke website, and there are plans to establish a Thompson Punke ping pong team as well as other initiatives.

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  • John Isaacs November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Ping Ping has definitely grown in popularity massively in recent years. This is a great way to make it seem more accessible to a new ‘trendier’ audience. One of the projects that we are involved in the design for is Ping! England which is actually launching really soon all across the country. It gives people a chance to play and get involved in a sport that is really fun and addictive.

  • David Lowe November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    It’s about time that the traditional image of table tennis was replaced with a cool, new, stylish version of ping pong. We are collaborating with Uberpong on a Kickstarter which aims to do just this. We will be joining the movement with the likes of Thompson Punke to help the sport become more attractive to a younger audience.

  • ADE AKINBOYEWA November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I welcome this attempt at rescuing the sport from blazing.. blinding yellow tops.. hopefully we can get some khaki tops.. and st george tops.. ( more red than white)..

  • James Cooper November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Thanks for the coverage. John and David if you want to chat drop me a line: theman@thompsonpunke.com – we are always up for collaborations.

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