Peugeot Just add fuel - The Making Of
When Peugeot get something right, they typically get it very, very right; just look at the RC-Z. But aside from the odd hit here and a few strokes of blind luck there, it could be fair to say Peugeot hasn’t really been the dominant or even respected force it once was in the automotive world for a good 15 to 20 years.
Now though, thanks to the aforementioned Peugeot RC-Z – which is easily one of the best looking and most appealing cars on sale – Peugeot seems to be getting back into its stride, and with it comes confidence. Take advertising, for example. It’s a basic way of showing off to the world; taking your product and putting it on screen for the car-buying consumers of the universe to judge upon. It’s a scary prospect, but if you get it right, there’s a big, big reward at the end: profit.
Honda has always been the dog’s danglies when it comes to television advertising. The Japanese marque has continually produced not only impressive ads, but thought-provoking ones, too. They go that extra mile with their advertisements to ensure you keep watching instead of nipping the toilet for a sit-down.
This area has never really been Peugeot’s forte. Now, though, they’ve decided to hand over the creative reigns to a bunch of creatives, and, well, it’s worked. Not only have Peugeot enlisted two really clever blokes, London designer Kyle Bean and director Joseph Mann, but they also asked them to use paper. Just paper.
No CGI effects, no camera wizardry, just paper, glue and a hell of a lot of man hours. The result is an advert that is not only beautiful, artistic, inspiring and mind-blowing, but also an advert that is visually pleasing and intriguing.
The whole point of the ad is to make consumers aware of Peugeot’s Just Add Fuel finance option. The deal effectively turns your everyday car payments like tax, insurance, warranty, servicing and finance into one bill that you pay to Peugeot each month. And all you have to do is literally Just Add Fuel.
The ad, and the making of, is quite simply brilliant. You really have to respect the vision of these guys. Just look at the scene with the spanners; it looks as if it’s been done on a computer, but then you see the Making Of and you realise that each individual spanner is just paper and glue. It’s absolutely remarkable.
Well played, Peugeot. A few more adverts like this and you’ll be sitting pretty for the rest of 2012.