Pembleton Collabs With Reg Mombassa to Launch Evil Ray Sunscreen

Independent ‘ideas clubhouse’ Pembleton has launched Evil Ray, a sunscreen brand 18 months in the making whose logo was created by Reg Mombassa.

The business teamed up with the acclaimed Australian artist because it wanted Evil Ray to embody the “maximalist design style of 1980s Australian surf brands, like Mambo [which became known for Reg’s designs].”

“From memory, it started with an email,” Pembleton co-founder Matilda Hobba told LBB of the process of working together, “then several weeks later, a phone call. Next thing we knew, we were working with one of the true icons of Aussie design and art. And it has to be said, Reg was every bit the legend we thought he would be.”

Pembleton oversaw the creation of the brand, from formulation, manufacturing and operations, sales channel planning, and marketing. The packaging features a UV-reactive label, which signals when customers should apply sunscreen. Pembleton claimed the process involved a number of manufacturing firsts, including innovations in tooling and blow moulds, created and made in Melbourne.

The resulting arched bottles -- designed in partnership with New Zealand business Seachange -- are made from recycled plastics, and resemble sculptural objects.

“They absolutely nailed the initial brief with their first round of designs,” Matilda said.

“The final packaging is very true to the first concepts they shared with us. It was then about working through the manufacturing process to bring the concepts to life. Like all new packaging, this was a long and complicated process as the moulds themselves were highly unique. There's a lot of industry firsts in the pack design.”

The brand debuts a new division, Pembleton Ventures, which co-founder Matilda said has ambitions to “create innovative brands and ideas from the ground up, whether they're part or fully owned by the founders of Pembleton.

“Evil Ray is the first example of that. We have a number of other projects in the pipeline.”

It launches with three SKUs -- a face sunscreen and two sizes of a body sunscreen -- promoted via an out-of-home campaign, and a social launch film, shot by Julian Frost.

The spot opens with a naked Adam and Eve holding hands with a bright yellow sun.

“Top of mind was ensuring we had board approval to show genitalia in our launch film,” Matilda quipped. “The final advice given was, ‘Let it be known in the minutes, the board has gone dicks out.’”

The creative assets convey the sun’s hateful intent; the film’s voiceover says the sun is “busy stabbing us in the back with hateful ray beams”, and OOH executions feature lines such as, “Official enemy of the sun,” and “Stay vigilant. The sun is trying to kill you.” Evil Ray is positioned as “the official enemy of the sun.”

Almost a year ago, fellow Melbourne indie SICKDOGWOLFMAN also saw an opportunity to disrupt the typically-clinical and highly-regulated sunscreen category. It launched SLATHER with an absurd film also targeting the sun’s evil nature, warning, “The sun is not your friend.”

At that stage, Evil Ray had finalised its formulations, and manufactured most of its packaging. “We were actually really buoyed by the launch of SLATHER. Knowing other smart agencies saw the same potential to disrupt in this area told us we were onto something,” Matilda said.

“The truth is, with so few Australians following the sun protection protocols advised by the Cancer Council, we welcome all new entrants to the market. Anything to get more people protecting themselves from the vagaries of sun exposure.”

The sunscreen category has been in the spotlight this year, with consumer watchdog CHOICE finding a number of Australian sunscreens did not meet their SPF claims. Multiple sunscreens were ultimately recalled.

“For the first time in many people’s lives, they’re questioning whether their sunscreen actually works,” Pembleton’s Mac Wright said. The business worked with Australian biochemists to develop the formulas, and tested the products in labs across Australia and Europe.

“It’s why we’ve had these sunscreens thoroughly tested, then retested, by multiple independent labs. The results of these tests are clearly printed down the side of our bottles: SPF50+. People can apply Evil Ray and know it does exactly what it says.”

The line will be stocked in surf and skate stores, personal grooming businesses, and a number of other retailers with whom Evil Ray is in negotiations. Evil Ray is currently developing a number of additional SKUs it plans to launch in 2026, and has intentions to expand to global markets.

The broader campaign’s design and art direction was overseen by Matt Alpass, while PS Designs’ Morgan Paki assisted on website development.

“Evil Ray has been a project where every person who has come on board has improved, crafted and elevated this brand to the highest level,” Matilda added.

“This is a best in class social-led launch, which we believe will drive more people to begin making sun care a daily habit.”

Matilda, Mac, Simon Bagnasco, and Alex Speakman founded Pembleton last year to deliver clients senior creative and strategic capability on a project-to-project basis. Last month, the indie launched a national campaign for Belong.