Mangan Berlin launched a new spot promoting Volkswagen leasing with the 60-second “Cat Video.”
The spot explores the Internet phenomenon of cat videos, with a twist: the cats are all played by people. As with most cat videos, it’s an exercise in pure ridiculousness. The connection to the brand is delivered at the very end, when a cat driving a Volkswagen says, “You don’t have to be a cat to get on the Internet. And if you want to drive a Volkswagen, you don’t have to buy one.” While that connection is a bit of a stretch, the video and accompanying catchy song will be hard for viewers to forget.
“We began this project with an intense casting session and pre-production planning that included a stunt coordinator and a special rig to simulate the curtain gag,” explained director Curtis Wehrfritz. “Cats act like diva rock stars, their demeanour is so dry, and unaffected. It’s not that the cat drops the vase but rather his ‘who gives a shit’ attitude that really makes them funny. We wanted to make sure we captured that.”
Credits:
Spot Title: Cat Video
Marketing Volkswagen Leasing: André Hajek
Marketing Volkswagen Leasing: Miriam Laridjani
Marketing Volkswagen Leasing: Rafael Schady
Marketing Volkswagen Leasing: Kristin Woltmann
Agency: Mangan Berlin
Copywriter/Concept: Christian Fries
Art Director: Christian Peters
Art Director: Felix Szymoniakn
Production Company: Tony Petersen Film Berlin
Director: Curtis Wehrfritz
Director of Photography: Stefan Austmeyer
Executive Producer: Fabian Barz
Producer: Stefanie Schuster
Casting: Ana Dávila
Production Design: Sven Gessner
Make Up: Andres Heldmann
Styling: Katja Höft
Editor: Hannes Andresen
Colour Grading: Pana Argueta
Post Production: nhb studios Berlin
Cat Animation: Fido, Sweden
Music: Steve Ibsen