Heat continues its “Be Slightly Adventurous” theme for Hotwire with a new campaign featuring three spots.
In the 30-second “Near Death,” a man is nearly hit by a bus when he realizes he’s never been to “that nude beach in Monterey.” In the split second when the bus is presumably about to hit him, he fantasizes about the beach, where he’s “never felt this free,” “never been so brave” or “so unsure of where to put sunscreen” (everywhere?), but luckily the bus hits the break hard. In the aftermath of the near death experience, he quickly books the trip with Hotwire. Another spot, “Road Trip” sees a father deciding to rent a car for a family trip, and not to pick up any hitchhikers, while “Three Day Weekend” sees a couple choose a trip to New York over catching up on laundry. The spots picked up where the campaign previously left off, continuing to mine the “Be Slightly Adventurous” theme in an attempt to infuse a little humor into the brand. It works best in “Near Death,” since that spot includes the best example of being “slightly adventurous” but the ads suffer from a problem common in the category as they struggle to adequately differentiate the brand from its myriad competitors. (The “save up to 60 percent off” line comes across as ambiguous and a bit flimsy.) The campaign launches online today, timed to coincide with the busy spring travel season.
Credits:
Agency: Heat
Executive Creative Director: Steve Stone
Creative Director: Mike Duckworth
Associate Creative Director: Nichole Geddes
ACD/Copywriter: Mary Unger
Senior Producer: Monica Wilkins
Director of Production: Brian Coate
Director of Client Service: Aaron Lang
Account Director: Olivia Balicki
Account Manager: Sarah Behrens
Business Affairs: Julie Petruzzo
Production Company: Knucklehead
Executive Producer: Cathleen Kisich
Director: Rob Leggatt
Edit and Finish: Hutch and Co Technologies
Editor: Jim Hutchins
Assistant Editor: Patrick O’leary
Online Artist: Austin Hickman-Fain
Executive Producer: Jane Hutchins
Color: MPC
Colorist: Ricky Gausis
Color assist: Dimitri Rajapakse
Executive Producer: Meghan Lang
Associate Producer: Rebecca Boorsma
Audio Record and Mix: One Union
Engineer: Eben Carr
Producer: Lauren Mask
VO: Tom Kane