Honda Element.

One of the most unattractive cars ever proved to be one of the most attractive assignments I can think of. My partner Mindy and I updated and extended the already-popular Element campaign through four television spots / web videos plus a mid-year TV response (‘Pointer’) to the Element’s designation as ‘Dog Car of the Year.’

This was my first big project in the ad business, and still ranks as my favorite. And sure, while the poor, never fully appreciated Element is now defunct, its spirit lives on. Plus, it won us a Large Purple Chair from Yahoo! so that was pretty cool.

 

Here’s some hot comic strip-esque print action. Go ahead and click on the images for a look at the full ads. Please? We worked really hard on them. Thx!

We also placed our Element campaign spots on the animated electronic billboard that sits atop the Tijuana-back-into-USA border crossing station. Not only did we feel that this would be a great place to get high/prolonged exposure to the spots on the (relatively) cheap (have you ever waited in that line to cross back into the US?), but we thought that adding an interactive element, as well, would keep folks (i.e. potential Element buyers) engaged.

SO we placed an additional short animated spot, coming up every so often in the loop, asking the viewer to give the Blue-Footed Booby character (bird-with-the-helmet) a nickname. To make the experience truly interactive, we set up a custom SMS for viewers in line to text their recommendations, which were then randomly displayed on the animated billboard.

Credits

Copywriter: Mike Zuckerman
Art Director: Mindy Kang
CD: David Smith, Joe Baratelli
ACD: Camille Sze, Chuck Blackwell
Agency: RPA
Animation: W!ldbrain
Client: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.