His journey took off at the end of December 2015 and by the time that the meeting will be held on Sep. 9th he is expected to be back on home territory. In this 40 week period the AG Smurf will meet 40 athletes. These athletes will be invited to show their support for the AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme through campaigns on social media. The AG Smurf will also collect signatures of the athletes.
Athletes who have already “smurfed” the AG Smurf include Louise Carton, Marieke Vervoort, Olivia Borlée, Gesa Felicitas Krause and Cédric Van Branteghem, the Assistant Meeting Director of the AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme.
#Smurf2world is a campaign for sports promotion and for charity. During the 40th AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme 40 Smurfs will be on auction in favor of Unicef. Every Smurf carries the signature of one of the international athletes that the AG Smurf met on his journey.
“This is the best ambassador that we could dream of to present the 40th AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme to the stars of international athletics”, says Cédric Van Branteghem. “The world famous comic strip character will make the Diamond League Final shine everywhere in the world and we’re delighted that our title partner AG Insurance supports this charity initiative.”
Véronique Culliford, the daughter of Peyo who created the Smurfs continues : “I’m very proud that our Smurf is the mascot of such a prestigious sports event that appeals to large crowds for more than 40 years now. Sports and athletics in particular are great disciplines to support, for the young and for the old.”
Hans De Cuyper, CEO of AG Insurance concludes : « The 40th anniversary of the AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme deserves some exceptional attention. Throughout 2016 athletes and audiences will be addressed in various original ways. #Smurf2world perfectly fulfills our desire to promote sports and to support athletes, in addition to values that are very important to us, such as solidarity.”
Up until Sep. 9th 2016 the Smurf’s journey can be followed on the social channels of AG Insurance:
- <link http: www.facebook.com aginsurancereporters external-link-new-window external link in new>Facebook AG Insurance Supporters
- <link http: www.twitter.com agsupporters external-link-new-window external link in new>Twitter AG Supporters
- <link http: www.instagram.com aginsurancesupporters external-link-new-window external link in new>Instagram AG Insurance Supporters
