Trophies Spring to Life in Whimsical Ad for Honda's 10th-Generation Accord
Editor's Pick
To promote the 10th generation of the Accord, Honda gets charming in a whimsical new ad from RPA and the brand's go-to directors, Smith & Foulkes of Nexus.
The new spot opens on a plaque that reads "Better Is a Never-Ending Quest," then pans upward to a bronze figure of a bowler atop a trophy, his ball lifted and ready to go. He breaks free from his frozen pose, announcing, "There's a danger to success" and the camera then moves on to other figurines--a soccer player, a fisherman, an angel, motocross athletes--who all proceed to opine on the risks of being at the top:
"It can bring out your best, or lull you into complacency .. If you think you've done your best, aim higher. You can always be faster, or smarter, or stronger," or, "more perspicacious," says a spelling bee girl."
Entitled "Trophy City," it's a charming way to highlight the Accord's reputation and the 10th generation model's new features without the annoying bluster.
The trophy idea was a "super-relatable way to represent success, across a wide range of competitive areas," explains RPA SVP Chief of Creative Development Jason Sperling. "We've all won one of these. Some of us for the one year we played soccer to appease our parents. Some of us for years and years until we ran out of shelf space. But the most determined of us never let a win stop us from repeating next time, or doing better, or looking back."
"We've been working off this theme of striving to achieve greatness and dreaming bigger for a while now," Sperling says. The idea has played out in previous ads, including Honda's Super Bowl yearbook spot depicting celebrities like Steve Carrell, Viola Davis and Tina Fey before they were big names.
Going forward, Sperling says the campaign will use the CGI and technology used to develop the trophy characters for a hyper-targeted media campaign that will allow consumers to nominate their friends and send them customized trophy videos.
The new film is just the latest in animation pros Smith & Foulkes' portfolio of charming Honda work, which includes the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning "Grrr," and other unusual ads from RPA to promote the HR-V Crossover.
Credits
- Date
- Nov 02, 2017
- Brand :
- Honda
- Client :
- Honda
- Agency :
- RPA
- Director :
- Smith & Foulkes
- Production Company :
- Nexus
- Assistant Vice President, Marketing :
- Susie Rossick
- National Manager of Advertising :
- Alicia Jones
- Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer :
- Joe Baratelli
- Senior Vice President, Chief, Creative Development :
- Jason Sperling
- Vice President/Creative Director :
- Chuck Blackwell
- Vice President/Creative Director :
- Ken Pappanduros
- Executive Vice President, Chief Production Officer :
- Gary Paticoff
- Vice President, Director, Video Production :
- Isadora Chesler
- Producer :
- Angela Pascal
- Vice President, Director, Business Affairs :
- Maria Del Homme
- Executive Vice President, Chief Client Officer :
- Brett Bender
- Senior Vice President, Group Account Director :
- Adam Blankenship
- Vice President, Management Supervisor :
- Cathy O'Gorman
- Account Supervisor :
- Teresa Christovich
- Account Executive :
- Nicole Hansen
- Executive Producer :
- Tracey Cooper
- CG Supervisor :
- Cesar Eiji Nunes
- Art Director :
- Cesar Eiji Nunes
- Concept Artist :
- Callum Strachan
- Storyboard and Designs :
- Russell Hossain
- Design :
- Seb Antoniou
- Design :
- Florian Caspar
- Rigging Artist :
- Lisa Bouët
- 3D Animator :
- Dominic Griffiths
- 3D Animator :
- Benjamin Tron
- 3D Generalist :
- Eder de Souza
- 3D Generalist :
- Ackeem Durrant
- Production Manager :
- Maïwenn Le Borgne
- Production Manager :
- Derek Wlash
- Editor :
- Dave Slade
- Visual Effects Studio :
- MPC
- Creative Director :
- Rob Hodgson
- Executive Producer :
- Karen Anderson
- Senior Producer :
- Diana De Vries
- Coordinator :
- Alexander Ramos
- Line Producer :
- Deepanjali Singh
- CG Lead :
- Dave White
- CG Lead :
- Ryan McDougal
- CG Lead :
- Tim Kafka
- CG Lead :
- Rune Mansson
- CG Lead :
- Clement Renaudin
- 2D Lead :
- Toya Drechsler
- 2D Compositing :
- Oliver Caiden
- 2D Compositing :
- David Ince
- Animation :
- Andrew Price
- Animation :
- Jacob Patrick
- Animation :
- Ty Coyle
- Animation :
- Graeme Revell
- Animation :
- Jacob Fradkin
- Animation :
- Dan Wawrzaszek
- Animation :
- Ambalika Nandy
- Animation :
- Ankan Sanyal
- Animation :
- Justin Tirado
- Animation :
- Parker Sellers
- Modeling :
- Dana DiGioia
- Modeling :
- Pascual Rubio Cervera
- Modeling :
- Rodrigo Carrasco
- Modeling :
- Joel Durham
- Modeling :
- Sean Golding
- Modeling :
- Jared Krichevsky
- Modeling :
- Anastasios Gionis
- Modeling :
- Lamarcus Harvey
- Modeling :
- Bibin Balan
- Modeling :
- Ullas Thunga
- Modeling :
- Anbarasu E
- Modeling :
- Prakash Vaira
- Lighting :
- Matt Bell
- Lighting :
- Dennys Herman
- Lighting :
- Chris Bernier
- Lighting :
- Francisco Fraga
- Lighting :
- Roberto Maki
- Lighting :
- Tiago Dias
- Lighting :
- Jared Broddle
- Lighting :
- Tim Kafka
- Lighting :
- Rune Mansson
- Lighting :
- Clement Renaudin
- Lighting :
- Kyung Park
- Rigging :
- Lyndsey Horton
- Rigging :
- Meghan Sesnie
- Rigging :
- Wesley Schneider
- Rigging :
- George Saavedra
- Rigging :
- Koki Nozawa
- Rigging :
- Debalina Dasgupta
- Rigging :
- Subbaiah
- Digital Matte Painting :
- Thom Price
- Digital Matte Painting :
- Sue Jang
- Colorist :
- Kristopher Smale
- Color Producer :
- Rebecca Boorsma
- Music :
- Jeremy Turner
- Composer :
- Jeremy Turner
- Executive Producer :
- Sarah Phelps
- Producer :
- Owen ONeill
- Sound Design :
- Factory
- Executive Producer :
- Lou Allen
- Sound Design :
- Anthony Moore
- Sound Design :
- Jack Hallett
- Mix :
- Lime Studios
- Re-Recording Mixer :
- Dave Wagg
- Assistant Re-Recording Mixer :
- Adam Primack
- Executive Producer :
- Susie Boyajan
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