Ad of the Day: Dodge
W+K shows you the ideas, engineering and wry humor that went into the 2013 Dart
What do you need to create a groundbreaking compact car? Smart people, great ideas—and a healthy sense of humor.
That's according to this entertaining 90-second spot from Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., for the 2013 Dodge Dart, offering a easy step-by-step instruction guide for designing and engineering a worthwhile entry in the competitive compact-car segment. Basically, you need lots of coffee, not a lot of other commitments, not a lot of committees or finance guys, and a whole lot of refining and refining and refining. The playful rapid-fire presentation is vintage W+K, which has built reserves of wry humor into the Dodge brand for several years now (from George Washington to the beheaded robot). In a nice touch, the Dart spot—directed by Christopher Riggert of Biscuit Filmworks—also features a celebrity endorsement by Tom Brady, in the form of Brady questioning whether he's even right for the role.
The spot's energy is derived largely from a solid choice of soundtrack: the Jay-Z and Kanye West track "No Church in the Wild," from their Watch the Throne album. The spot, titled "How to Change Cars Forever," also introduces the tagline "New rules," to emphasize that Dodge is redefining what a compact car can be.
"Adding a dose of fun, creative license and Dodge brand humor, 'How to Change Cars Forever' captures the meticulous process of starting with a simple idea and developing it into a revolutionary new car, including the angst and pressure of a blank page, trials and errors of the early stages, and molding, shaping and testing the Dodge Dart until it was right," says Olivier Francois, marketing chief at Chrysler Group. "We wanted to provide a peek inside what it takes to bring a new car to fruition."
W+K continues to make such glimpses worth your while.
CREDITS
Client: Dodge
Model: 2013 Dart
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Aaron Allen/Joe Staples/Michael Tabtabai
Copywriters: Matt Rivitz/Justine Armour/Jared Elms
Art Directors: Tyler Magnussen/Devin Gillespie
Executive Producer: Corey Bartha
Account Team: Thomas Harvey/Lani Reichenbach/Corey Woodson
Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff/Susan Hoffman
Agency Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Christopher Riggert
Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Producer: Youree Henley
Director of Photography: Greig Fraser
Production Designer: Samantha Gore
Editorial Company: Joint Editorial
Editor: Kyle Valenta
Post Producers: Ryan Shanholtzer/Jennifer Giannettoni
Post Executive Producer: Patty Brebner
VFX Company: Method Studios
VFX Supervisor: Ben Walsh
Flame Artists: Claus Hansen/Cary Welton/Thomas Downs
VFX Producer: Ananda Reavis
Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Music+Sound Company: Stimmung Sound
Designer: Gus Koven
Song: "No Church in the Wild" by Jay-Z/Kanye West
Producer: Ceinwyn Clark
Mix Company: Lime Studios
Mixer: Mark Meyuhas
Producer: Jessica Locke
