Volvo builds a four-truck tower for epic ad

What do you do when you’re a car brand with four new trucks to announce? Naturally you stack them all on top of one another, and then stick the company president on top

Forsman & Bodenfors is behind the stunt, which features in a ridiculously over-the-top film from the car manufacturer. If the sight of a 15-metre high, 58-tonne moving truck tower isn’t impressive enough, there’s dry ice, a prowling wolf, lightning and a Vangelis soundtrack to amp it all up a bit further.

Volvo president Roger Alm, who’s inexplicably perched at the very top of the four trucks, is the cherry on the cake.

It’s knowingly ridiculous, and that’s precisely what makes it so enjoyable – much like Volvo’s Epic Split ad, featuring Van Damme.

However it’s not visual trickery. Volvo did actually spend a month designing and carefully constructing the tower, as revealed by a making-of film. “It is unreal to see it like this, I wouldn’t dare go up there,” notes a jovial Volvo Trucks engineer in the video.

Behind the entertainment factor, there is a point to it all – to emphasise the sturdiness and reliability of Volvo’s Trucks and their dynamic steering technology.

It’s proof that vehicle adverts don’t have to rely on empty jargon and the same, stale format. There’s plenty of room for playfulness and humour as well, if brands are prepared to take the risk.

Credits:
Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors
Art directors: Mattias Berg, Josefin Roxeheim
Copywriters: Olle Langseth, Hampus Elfström
Designer: Jerry Wass
Production company: Bacon
Director: Andreas Nilsson