RPA launched a new campaign for Honda with a pair of 60-second spots promoting the 2016 Accord with stories written by children and performed in a style akin to elementary school plays.
In “Storytime with the Accord and Ethan, age 4” the Accord is transformed into a spaceship. A T-Rex who has “a big round tummy because he ate lots of pizzas” is joined by his friend, Vincent, another T-Rex on a trip to Mars. The duo takes the Accord into space and decides to head to Mars, where they see lots of volcanoes and rescue a little princess from a dragon blocking her exit from a pink castle. The spot, along with the undersea treasure hunt of “Storytime with the Accord and Kingsley” benefit from the whimsical charm and off-the-wall randomness of childhood imagination. RPA’s decision to turn these ideas into productions reminiscent of elementary school plays fits the mood well, allowing the fantastical ideas to play out in an appropriate environment. While the idea of using children’s stories for advertising isn’t exactly a novel one — Adweek points to McCann’s “Mind of a Child” for Sony and BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated” for AT&T (and we’re sure our readers can think of a few more) — the delivery is different enough to feel at least slightly fresh and the message gels nicely with Honda’s “Power of Dreams” tagline.
Credits:
Client: Honda
Agency: RPA
EVP, Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli
SVP, Executive Creative Director: Jason Sperling
VP, Creative Director: Social Media: J Barbush
Sr. Art Director: Evan Boswell
Copywriter: David Bassine
Jr. Art Director: Enrique Alvarado
SVP, Chief Production Officer: Gary Paticoff
VP, Executive Producer: Isadora Chesler
VP, Director of Digital Production: Dave Brezinski
Executive Digital Producer: Linda Kim
Sr. Digital Producer: Annie Hough
VP, Associate Director, Digital Marketing: Aaron Dodez
Supervisor, Digital Content Strategy: Mike Dossett
Sr. Specialist, Digital Content Strategy: Tyler Sweeney
Coordinator, Digital Content Strategy: Amanda Womack
EVP, Management Account Director: Brett Bender
VP, Group Account Director: Adam Blankenship
Account Supervisor: Renee Egizi-Finger
Account Executive: Kaelin McGill
Production Company: Bö’s House of Visual Arts
VP, Director, Content Production: Mark Tripp
Director of Photography: Simon Thirlaway
Producer: Sparky Pomeroy
Art Director: Mark Behn
Post Producer: Eddie Granado
Editor: Alex Jones
Editor: A’sia Horne
Score & Sound Design: Adam Deibert
Visual Effects: Eddie Granado
Record & Premix: Margarita Mix
Mix: Paul Hurtubise
GM: Michele Millard
Final Mix: Lime
Mixer: Dave Wagg
Assistant Mixer: Adam Primack
Color Correction: The Mill
Colorist: Adam Scott
Executive Producer: Thatcher Peterson