Honda have created some unique and show-stopping advertisements over the years, and one that really stood out from the crowd was the live sky-dive they did, aired on Channel 4 on 28th May 2008. The three-minute long advert was slot into an ad-break during hit show Come Dine With Me and has had over 100,000 hits on YouTube. The advertisement was originally created by Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth of W&K. Wieden and Kennedy have also been responsible for a number of creative and memorable advertisements, such as the Tesco Christmas ad 2013, Honda Case History and Lurpak Weave Your Magic.
Honda - Jump
This advertisement took 19 skydivers who had just 3 minutes and 20 seconds to spell out 'HONDA' (inspired by the manufacturer's new strap line 'Difficult Is Worth Doing') with their bodies before opening their parachutes in order for a safe landing. The stunt is a means of gaining publicity for Honda's new multi-million pound ad campaign, which features 45 skydivers promoting the Honda Accord by creating a series of shapes over the Mojave desert to reflect features on the new car.
A lot of thought and pre-planning went into this production in order for Honda and the advertising company to pull this advertisement off to the best of their ability. Just 1 day before the ad went live, Ian Armstrong, Honda's manager of communications stated in an interview with The Guardian, "There will be no time delay or computer generated imagery [CGI]. If it works, people will know who it's for. If it doesn't, they won't." The team of organisers also had to hold out for the weather and hope it was on their side. Channel 4's sales director, Andy Barnes, who like the other broadcast executives is battling along a looming advertising downturn, said the advert, which required special dispensation from the advertising watchdog, broke "the boundaries of the perceived confines of TV advertising.''
"We wanted to create something unmissable and what better way to produce something 'must-see' than to stage the first live ad event on TV. It's about creating talk-ability on a big scale, managing the risk and being seen as pioneers for it." - Andy Barnes, C4's Sales Director.
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| Top row; before the jump - Bottom row; final letters |
I really like the concept of this advert as it is extremely unique and it has never been done before. A live television advert is something that seems so simple to think of yet nobody had ever done it before this, and I think Honda did an incredible job to pull this off as well as they did. The camera work was amazing, and the crew managed to capture every single letter in full detail. The audience watching at home will stereotypically be sitting in their living rooms, spelling it out as the body shapes form a letter. It was just pure magic. I really admire how Honda had the dare devil-ness to not only attempt a live advert, but to make it so complexed. The risks in this would have been absolutely sky high (literally). Weather dependency has taken it's toll in this, as had it been awful weather, it would've had to have been called off, for the safety of all of the skydivers.
The creative side of things were also really well done. The skydivers' overalls are red, which is significant to Honda as this is the colour of their logo/font. Creating such a bold and unique advert, Honda knew it would get the people and audience talking. It would cause the word-of-mouth technique and put their name under a positive light. In effect, this advert is relating to their previous advert, Cog (aired on ITV on 6th April 2003), in which parts of a car are connected in a seamless and synchronised manor, in the essence of a Rube Goldberg Machine. In Cog, the concept of the advert is where all of the car parts and mechanisms are eventually joined together, revealing a finished product. This, in effect, is what the Jump advertisement is doing, just in a completely different lime-light. With this also, Honda have chosen to switch airing channels from ITV to Channel 4, giving them a different target audience.
Honda have really made it clear that difficult is really worth doing. They have proved that even what seems like an impossibility, is impossible.
Cheerio. :o)
- Olivia.
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http://www.wk.com/office/london/client/honda - accessed on 27th-Jan-2014
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