What started as a social media vote has become real-world fan merchandise: Oscar Piastri wearing The Piastee at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The t-shirt was designed by Piastri in collaboration with Google Pixel, with the campaign led by independent creative company Emotive and brought to life via Emotive Productions.
The work extends Google Pixel’s partnership with Piastri, showing how fan participation can move from social content into physical merchandise.
Earlier this year, Google Pixel and Piastri launched their partnership with a film showing that “switching things up” can lead to something great.
The latest chapter saw Piastri use the Pixel 10 Pro to create three t-shirt designs inspired by internet-fuelled fan lore, including his reaction to the Austrian jetpack incident and his dog Basil.
The designs were put to a social vote, attracting more than 12,000 votes. A croissant-inspired tee, referencing Piastri’s “Oscar Pastry” nickname, was crowned the winner and became The Piastee.
Fans turn content into merch
After fans began asking for the shirt to be made available, Google Pixel and Piastri put it into production.
Influencers started wearing the design, giveaways rolled out across social, and the shirt eventually made its way to the Canadian Grand Prix, where Piastri wore it himself.
The shirt is now available as official fan merchandise on Piastri’s online store.
Emotive on fan participation
Jessica Cluff, Head of Earned Creative at Emotive, said the campaign grew because the audience took ownership of the idea.
“The most exciting part of this campaign was watching the audience take it somewhere bigger than we originally imagined,” Cluff said.
“It started with fans voting on a t-shirt. Then they wanted it made for real. Then the internet started treating it like actual merch before it even existed.
“That level of participation is incredibly hard to force, but when you create something people genuinely want to engage with, it can move from content into culture very quickly.”
Google Pixel on the partnership
Julia Davis, Director of Google’s Devices Marketing, said the work builds on the shared mindset between Pixel and Piastri.
“At its core, this partnership is focused on getting consumers to question why they would ever want anything less than ‘the best, a mindset that Oscar shares and exemplifies on and off the track,” Davis said.
“This new work demonstrates Oscar being willing to switch things up once again, this time in a light-hearted and playful way that leans into his deep connection with fans and showcases the powerful capabilities of our flagship Pixel devices.”
Emotive’s integrated model
The campaign was developed through Emotive’s integrated model, with creative and production working together across Emotive Creative Agency and Emotive Productions.
By keeping the idea and making it closely connected from the outset, the team moved from social interaction to physical production, creator seeding, merchandise development and earned rollout.
The partnership continues to build on Google Pixel’s global platform, encouraging consumers to “ask more of their phone” and bringing it to life through an Australian lens.
Top image: Oscar wearing The Pastry Piastee at the Canadian Grand Prix