Late last year, MINI USA and agency Butler, Stern, Shine & Partners asked its consumer fan base to describe “The Best Test Drive Ever. Period.” in exactly six words. Out of 14,000 submissions, MINI selected Portland-based graphic designer Mathew Foster’s six-word description as the winning entry. His contribution? “Stewardess, Salt Flats, Paratroopers, Sushi, Falconer.” Well, Mathew, your wish is MINI’s command.
In November, Mathew and his girlfriend were flown to L.A. to begin filming what would become the above 2-minute cinematic short film, coming soon to a movie theater near you. Let’s go inside Mathew’s fantasy and the resulting spot from MINI and BSSP:
Stewardess: Remember that the more politically correct term “flight attendant” would’ve cost Mathew an extra word. MINI responded by giving Mathew a stewardess co-pilot. We hope his girlfriend was supportive of this artistic decision.
Salt Flats: No, it’s not the most original idea for a car ad. But, Mathew defends his location choice in the press release by saying, “I had just seen a Steve McQueen movie and that’s where the initial idea came from.” You just can’t argue with the “King of Cool.”
Paratroopers: It would’ve been cooler if the parachutes were on fire or something.
Sushi: Smart move on Mathew’s part by getting a free meal out of this. Having the stewardess feed it to him was a nice touch.
Falconer: “Initially we opened up with a falcon dropping the key into Mathew’s hands.” says BSSP CD Steve Mapp. “But we needed a better ending, so a Google search revealed a Swedish band named Falconer and that became our big crescendo ending at the very last minute.” Rock.
Do you think you can beat Mathew’s entry, dear commenters of exceedingly creative marketing prowess? Feel free to do so below.