Commonwealth//McCann found an unusual way to promote the active safety features of Chevy’s 2016 Malibu and Cruze models: a mock-horror trailer directed by Sam Raimi.
The mock-trailer opens on a woman entering an old house. Soon the plot of the faux horror film is revealed with a series of scenes mocking genre conventions until the woman is about to open an ominous door. She then hears pleading from offscreen voices to stop what she’s doing and get out of there and complies. The text “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a warning before bad things happen?” then appears onscreen, unexpectedly tying preceding action to the active safety features in Chevy’s 2016 Malibu and Cruze models.
Commonwealth//McCann intend to make full use of the deceptive format, running the ad “in 2,300 theaters and 14,000 screens nationwide over the next six months,” according to Adweek.
“We approached the development of the Chevrolet trailer in the same way we would an actual movie—by thinking through the plot, characters and eventual outcome,” Raimi explained in a statement. “I’ve been in plenty of theaters where the audience is so concerned for the safety of the main characters that they call out warnings to save them. That’s what this is based on.”
Credits:
Client: Chevrolet
Agency: Commonwealth/McCann
Creative Chairman: Linus Karlsson
Chief Creative Officer, North America: Gary Pascoe
Executive Creative Director, Copywriter: Duffy Patten
Executive Creative Director, Art Director: Bob Guisgand
Creative Director, Art Director: Tim Mattimore
Creative Director, Copywriter: John Fiebke
Executive Producer: Kelly Balagna
Account Director: Jacqueline Redmond
Account Supervisor: Molly Fox
Production Company: Pacific Rim Films
Director: Sam Raimi
Director of Photography: Daniel Mindel
Production Designer: Shane Valentino
Executive Producer: Annie Johnson
Line Producer: Julia Roberson
Executive Producer/ Arcade: Nicole Visram
Producer/ Arcade: Kirsten Thon-Webb
Editor/ Arcade: Bob Murawski
Asst Editor/ Arcade: Dean Miyahira
Composer: Christopher Young
Sound Designer: Jussi Tegelman
Audio Mixer: Marti D. Humphrey