Heimat: Hornbach presents its surreal anti-stress therapy

Spring is home improvement season. It’s D-I-Y passion time. And this spring, Heimat has taken German D-I-Y superstore chain, Hornbach, back to its D-I-Y passion ad roots.

While Hornbach’s previous campaign this year was the launch of a piece of top end designer furniture that cannot be bought, the new campaign picks up the surreal style of stories about D-I-Y passion that has run through its advertising for years.

Sweat it out gets inside the head of a D-I-Y-er, imagining the stresses of life that his home improvement project is eradicating from his body. In the film, this stress-removal is given to a team of “rubber cowboys”, who represent visually what’s going on inside the human body on a cellular level when sweat is being produced during hard work. Its humorous hyperbole is imaginative thinking dialled up its highest level – and the ad is hugely entertaining.

“We saw potential in the ‘rubber cowboys’ quickly,” stated Guido Heffels, creative head at Heimat. The cowboys were then developed with director, Andreas Nilsson, and production designer, Peter Grant, to create the highly stylised ad with its cinema qualities and keen attention to detail.

“The campaign is a typical Hornbach invitation to be both active and creative outside in your garden during this spring,” explained Thomas Schnaitmann, head of marketing in Germany and international marketing communication for Hornbach.

“Anyone who has ever dug out a garden pond, planted a flower bed or built a patio knows that a project which makes you sweat is the perfect way get rid of stress that has built up over the day.”

The full campaign covers TV, online, social media, outdoor, radio, display and point of sale.