Bike Maker Taps Horror Genre in H&H Ads
LOS ANGELES–Giant Bicycles has undergone a metamorphosis of sorts, with a new president, redesigned bikes and an edgy new print campaign from Hammerquist & Halverson.
The Rancho Dominguez, Calif., bicycle maker, led by president Skip Hess, formerly of Schwinn, is breaking four print ads in a series in Bike, Biking, Mountain Bike and other cycling enthusiast publications. The ads draw from 1970s horror movies, and star Ekib, a little boy with an almost demonic obsession with Giant bikes.
The first ad, “The Awakening,” depicts young Ekib standing before a mirror in a stark bathroom, with a Giant logo birthmark on his forehead. He stares down at a shocking red lipstick, which he has used to scrawl “bicycle” backwards on the mirror.
A second ad, “The Obsession,” depicts little Ekib tinkering with a bicycle in what appears to be a gothic mansion. The third ad, titled “The Enlightenment,” shows his shadow to be that of a bicycle.
“Children are the messengers of change [in horror movies],” said Fred Hammerquist, the Seattle shop’s creative director. “How do you talk about change that isn’t like everyone else? We stumbled across the idea. It’s a big change for Giant.”
The ads will run through November. Collateral work and a poster campaign support the print ads.
Giant's Scare Tactics
