Ogilvy and Mather has unveiled a pounds 3 million campaign for the
launch of Ford’s new small car, called the Ka, which does not feature
the car at all.
The campaign, which broke this week, uses a series of stylised scenes to
represent a journey through a dream-like setting.
The 55-second launch commercial, ‘travelogue’, opens with a shot of
someone’s toes amid green grass. The scene then dissolves into a sea
with a lighthouse and a ship tossing on rough waves. This shot in turn
melts into one of leaves in a forest, then zebras running in the wild.
The scene again dissolves into a tunnel effect that turns into a camera
lens, then the screen fills with stars, bees and exotically coloured
opening flowers. The action finally melts into an image of a man
throwing a stone across a pond which becomes a shot of someone lying in
a boat and dangling their feet in the water. The endline, which is part
of a soundtrack by Laurie Anderson, whispers, ‘Get into the car.’
The many visual analogies aim to represent aspects of the car and its
environment.
In addition to the launch ad, four 15-second commercials - designed to
top and tail breaks - focus either on the overall shape of the Ka or on
aspects of its design.
The national TV campaign for the Ka is accompanied by cinema and
national press advertising which breaks later this month.
Leon Jaume, O&M’s creative director on Ford, said: ‘We wanted to do
something idiosyncratic for the Ka. Ford has been pushing us in a braver
direction.’
The commercials were written by Dave Williams, art directed by Paul
Cotteral and directed by Howard Greenhalgh through Brave Films.
