Welcome to Optimism

on the telly, talking about cats on the telly

The father of the internet, Tim Berners Lee, was recently asked to name one thing he had never imagined his world-changing invention would be used for. His answer? Kittens. Image

The language of cute animals is truly a universal one. And if advertising is anything to go by, YouTube's favourite kind of star has definitely hit the mainstream. 

Over the years, we've had our fair share of success in the animals-in-advertising arena. From our cats with thumbs campaign for Cravendale to our moonwalking pony and singing kitty for Three, it's easy to see we have a bit of a soft spot for animals. 

Last night, a documentary titled Star Paws: The Rise of Superstar Pets aired on Channel 4, examining the internet-age phenomenon that is animal fame – from Grumpy Cat and Andrex puppies to our furry friend Bronte, the Starship-singing kitty from our Three 'Sing it Kitty' campaign. 

Star Paws teaser

Our MD, Neil, was interviewed for the series in our log cabin meeting room, complete with a secret squirrel, and the crew even popped in to film us all hard at work on what may or may not be another animal-starring campaign (okay it was). 

If you're in the UK, you can watch the whole thing right now on 4OD

Star Paws Neil

There’s testing, and then there’s Honda testing

In June, we introduced the Civic Type R concept with a roar, to kick off a whole host of campaign activity over the coming months showcasing the 'Other Side of Honda’. Now we’re back with a new pan-European, multi-channel campaign that celebrates the Civic range and Honda’s unparalleled dedication to thorough testing.

The campaign is based on the idea that ‘there’s testing, then there’s Honda testing’, showcasing the dramatic lengths the manufacturer will go to when testing their vehicles, specifically the Civic model. (To be precise, cars at Honda’s European manufacturing plant in Swindon are tested in a specially controlled climate chamber from -30’c to +80’c conditions.)

The campaign launches with a 30” film, which brings to life these extreme environments by encasing the car in ice before slowly melting it away against a changing backdrop. This is further supported by print executions, as well as a rich media ad featuring an interactive version of the film.

  

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Under the direction of Johnny Hardstaff, production team watched the car and snow-covered set melt of over a 5-hour sequence, filming 200 takes of the process on a motion control rig. MPC's team, led by Adam Crocker, developed a technique that enabled the director and creative team to navigate intuitively through hundreds of motion control takes, giving them full creative control over the rate at which the car and floor was melting/ freezing. MPC's 3D team enhanced the scenes to augment the snow-covered environment, turning a skeleton into a snowman and a cactus into conifers.

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