An Allston Unicyclist Is Trying to Win a National Dr. Pepper Competition

photo via YouTube.com

Allston resident Sam Haber is trying to make his career as a stunt unicyclist pop.

The 28-year-old rider, who can maneuver his way down stairs and perform other tricks on his one-wheeler, is one of 10 contestants left in a national competition to become “The Next One” and star in a Dr. Pepper commercial showing off his talent.

In order to get Haber to the top spot, people can visit the Dr. Pepper competition page and cast their vote for the Allston rider once a day. The next phase in the Dr. Pepper challenge will cut down the group to five finalists based on how many votes each person gets through social media and the official website’s tally. Voting ends on July 24.

Haber, who is a glass artist by trade, is currently up against an extreme jump-roper, the country’s “oldest footbag” competitor, a former Marine and Mixed Martial Arts fighter, and a guy who builds laser show designs for bands and DJs.

Haber has been trying to build buzz in Boston using the hashtag #SamForTheNextOne on Twitter, and by sharing his video on various online forums dedicated to unicycling.

On Unicyclist.com, Haber wrote that he sent in his video to the soda company because he felt unicycling “fit the kind of theme” they were going for in their latest commercial, and could give the world of unicycles a bit more exposure. He said the biggest hurdle so far in his attempt to take the top spot and become the star of the Dr. Pepper advertisement has been securing domestic votes. “Our sport is so small, that without the international votes, I really need everyone in the US to help out,” including fans in Boston, he said.

Those that want to help Haber win have to sign up on the Dr. Pepper website—something the unicyclist apologized for but hoped people could endure during this portion of the voting process. “I think if I make the top [five] there is a pretty good chance that Dr.Pepper would love to use the one wheel image for this marketing campaign. I’ve seen the other commercials, they like ‘Wow,’ and they like funny. Extreme uni would work for both,” he said.

Below is the video that Haber submitted to Dr. Pepper as part of the competition. To view more of Haber’s videos, visit his Vimeo page.