PUSHING THE LIMITS- MAURICE LACROIX’S ‘THE FRENCH JOB’ by Denéa Buckingham

Written by Gavin // June 08, 2012 // Events

In May / June of 2012 luxury watch manufactures Maurice Lacroix pulled off a pretty spectacular social media stunt to spread the word of brand ambassador Sébastien Murat’s remarkable 703+ feet world free diving record attempt.

Launched on April 24, The French Job competition called for applicants from around the world to submit their talents, and experience in 8 categories – WordPress Expert, Pool Boy, Personal Assistant, English, Chinese, German, Russian and Video Bloggers. Receiving an immense response of 10 million views, 353 applications and over 1.2 million votes the contest closed on the 20th of May and bloggers, specialists and watch-lovers the world over waited with baited breath for the announcement of the Dream Team.

The French Job’s specialists read like a United Nations roster; representing 9 countries and 11 languages. Spurring on their substantial social media circles and friends to support them into the Top 10; all eight categories were highly competitive and narrowed to a difficult decision for only 8 spots out of 80 finalists, and here they are:

-Delightful, dedicated Moscow-dweller Maria Kalinicheva snagged her dream spot as the Russian Blogger.

-Travel and food journalist from Sydney, Australia Denéa Buckingham and her blog RabbitEarth hopped into the role of the English Blogger.

-Clever, linguistic and creative Beijing-born Nice resident Xueyuan Hun steps in to spread the word of The French Job throughout the far East as the Chinese Blogger.

-Filmmaker and brilliant Brit Stuart Watt cuts his teeth into The French Job as the cinematically cunning Video Blogger.

-Acclaimed author and all-around creative character Jun Hao Hung’s hordes of German fans gained him a spot scribing his quick-witted quotes as the German Blogger.

-Efficient, enthusiastic Florida-resident Monte Kingstone has a penchant for iMovie trailers and perfecting his role as The French Job’s Personal Assistant.

-Matrix-minded Russian Evgeny Kitkin hacks his way into the hearts of all as the wunderkind WordPress Expert.

-Lovable Swiss larrikin Igor Petrovich rounds out the team as the Pool Boy, and no pity please, it’s a pretty cushy post.

Savoir-vivre. The French Job spans two weeks from June 2nd til the 16th. Banding the talents together in a magnificent villa perfectly positioned in the hills above Juan-les-Pins, near one of Sébastien’s favourite dive sites.  Sampling the fare of chef-to-the-stars Cécile Esteban it’s joie-de-vivre and savoir-faire all the way for The French Job.  For Maurice Lacroix the match of man and watch is meant to be. Recently releasing the stunning 42mm Pontos S, Sébastien will sport a prototype of this clever chronograph on his record dive. In fact, so will the lucky bloggers and specialists selected for The French Job.

The internet is buzzing with tweets, clips, posts, pins, pluses and tumbles about The French Job, start your own social journey with Séb and the team at the centrifugal hub www.the-french-job.com