In the rule book for making upmarket car advertising, there are several “must haves” – the glamorous plus one in the passenger seat, the handsome driver’s satisfied look, the formal wear…the long and winding road.
Of course, not everyone follows the rules, but so many do.
Skoda has. Well, sort of. DDB Sydney has included all the known and not loved car ad clichés to mock them and turn a series of predictable car spots into a campaign that’s rather more entertaining and a whole lot more memorable.
“It’s not anti-category,” stated DDB managing partner Amanda Wheeler. “It’s anti-cliché.”
“Life is a journey. It doesn’t matter where you’re going…,” the core ad begins. But the clichéd voiceover doesn’t last long. “You’re not seriously buying this, are you?” follows.
The idea behind all this subversive activity is to point out that the Skoda Octavia is for those who buy the car, not the ad. There’s the added benefit to Skoda of making people look outside the usual two collections of marques, which people tend to dub “Asian” and “European”.
Škoda Australia managing director, Michael Irmer, noted, “I thought: ‘This is brilliant! Why has no-one thought of it before? Initially we wanted to do a more conventional ad which points outs the merits of the car, but another way of doing it was found and it’s one we couldn’t resist.
“I think now that this will make you think of Škoda every time you see one of those car brands that uses the clichés.”
The four TVCs were filmed in a typical wintry “scenic splendour” landscape in New Zealand by Finch, using the typical white upwardly mobile middle man and woman – in fact, the woman admits she has been in at least 25 car commercials.
Credits
Agency: DDB Sydney
Chief creative officers: Toby Talbot & Ben Welsh
Creative partners: Steve Jackson, Ant Melder & Michael Barnfield
Art director: Jason Woelfl
Copywriter: Sam Pascoe
Managing partner: Amanda Wheeler
Producer: Jacqui Gillies
Production company: Finch
Director: Jae Morrison
Producer: Sarah Cook
Editor: Tim Mauger
Post production: Finch
Sound: Stuart Welch
Sound studio & music composition: Nylon Studios
Skoda Australia
Marketing manager: Andrew Younis
Marketing communications manager: Emma Ireland
Media agency: Mediacom
