It’s hard to make an entertaining car ad. All too often – in an obvious desire by brands to show off their vehicles at their shiniest, slickest best – audiences are offered generic scenes of handsome people (usually men) driving fast along epic highways. The cars may look good in these spots, but for audiences, they run the risk of all blending into one.

Honda has consistently stood out for doing something different with its advertising, often opting for quirky, cheeky charm over anything too polished. In this new spot though, its long-term agency Wieden + Kennedy London manages to pull off what must surely be a holy grail for car brands – an ad where the Honda Civic looks super slick, yet the ad is captivating too.

The typographic approach in the spot brings to mind this lovely old music video for Alex Gopher’s The Child, while the shot at the end of the car in the beam of light is positively Saul Bass-esque.

Honda’s ads have in the past been famously voiced by Garrison Keillor, though here the commentary is provided by rapper and artist Kojey Radical, who gives the spot a distinctly London flavour. And the copy works well enough, until you get to the tagline – See Where Different Takes You – which is a possible candidate for Nick Asbury’s brand line surgery. But hey, you can’t have everything.

Credits:
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy London
Creative Directors: Carlos Alija, Laura Sampedro
Creatives: Mat Kramer, Rachel Clancey
ECDs: Tony Davidson, Iain Tait
Production company: Time Based Arts
Directors: Mike Skrgatic and James Allen