Honda Diesel Ad (UK)

[Flybrian]

Hate Something

I must admit...I like it. Probably one of the few good ads Honda's made. And, of course, its for another country. Anyway, very cute and gets the message across.

Enjoy.

[Intrepidation]

That's pretty cute

[the_yellow_dart]

Reminds me of Katamari Damacy.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, read the above sentence as - "Reminds me that the Japanese occasionally smoke crack before writing things for export".

[FAPTurbo]

That's pretty good!

And it effectively gets the point across.

[loki]

that has to be the guy that's on NPR....lake woebegone

funny.

[pow]

Garrison Keillor! Yay!

Great ad.

[siegen]

I thought the diesel ad was kind of corny. The Impossible Dreams is by far the best Honda ad ever. Honda UK usually makes the best/most unique ads.

[Flybrian]

I thought the diesel ad was kind of corny. The Impossible Dreams is by far the best Honda ad ever. Honda UK usually makes the best/most unique ads.

One complaint about the Impossible Dreams ad is that it should end with the Hondajet, though I'm sure this was made a few years ago given the age of the cars shown. Perhaps a re-edit showcasing the plane emerging from the mists of the waterfall would be in order. Honestly, it sort of let me down at the end with a balloon(?!) since I was expecting the plane, which is - by much estimation - truly the crowning achievement of Honda's engine development to date.

[Intrepidation]

I agree with Fly, it would have been pretty awesoem to see teh Hondajet fly through the waterfall towards the camera. This is probably made before the plane though. It's a pretty cool commercial...very meaningful.

[Satty]

No Mr. Opportunity?

Edited December 30, 2006 by Satty

[Satty]

[Sixty8panther]

I swear that 90% of Honda/Acura's success is due to thier awsome ads.

As much as I hate Honda more often than not their ads are fantastic.

Another Classic:

[Intrepidation]

I swear that 90% of Honda/Acura's success is due to thier awsome ads.

As much as I hate Honda more often than not their ads are fantastic.

Another Classic:

I loved that commercial....I thought it was older than that though...but that's not an old Accord.

[deftonesfan867]

Thats great.

[FAPTurbo]

I Googled 'Mr. Opportunity' and even non car enthusiasts hate the asshole.

Here Satty, or anyone else, see what you can do with this... For some reason, Mark Foley and that preacher that got busted for meth, etc. comes to mind...

We should have a 'Mr. Opportunity' caption contest.

Edited January 1, 2007 by Captainbooyah

[MyerShift]

That ad was odd in the looking around at everyone else with a prevailing awkward silence kind of way, but I didn't mind it.

I still like VW's latest GTI ads better.

[BrewSwillis]

Don't forget Happy Honda Days!

[big blue]

I'll take Happy Honda Days over Mr. Opportunity. If only we could get those awesome UK ads over to North America. Definitely loved the impossible dream ad when I first saw it, the music, imagery and history was perfect(except for lack of Honda Jet as noted). The choir ad was decent, but still an interesting effort. I'd hate to be the production crew who did the cog video, 600 takes of swearing, frustration and anxiety right there. I'll say the diesel ad was quirky, but fun and unique. The tune was catchy and the imagery was very impressionable, something that a commercial wants to be.

Ya know, they should just shoot some new footage of him in the hondajet and replace the balloon with it. The ad would still be awesome

Found a post about all the symbolism in the impossible dreams ad, its quite clever actually:

"You have to know something about Honda to "get" this ad. It tells Soichiro Honda's life story symbolically...and it is utterly brilliant. As such, it is the ebst commercial I have ever seen:

-Soichiro Honda the outsider... the guy living in a trailer by the sea, an outsider.

-Soichiro the grease monkey...this guy looks like a grease monkey.

-The seagull in a nest tending to it's young...His dream in the earliest stages.

-Two Seagulls on the rock....Soichiro and Takeo Fujisawa (Honda's alter-ego)

-He begins his journey with a simple mini-bike...symbolic of the Honda Cub.

-The dogs chasing him as he sings "to fight the unbeatable foe"... the resistance that dogged him from MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) and the Gakubatsu (Japanese old Boys network).

-The sheep moving together as a group... the Japanese culture of group over the individual. Meanwhile, he motors on by in the background on his individual journey past the group. Two horses overlooking the field in the background-...I haven't figured this part out yet.

-The succession of cars and bikes as they progress through advances in developement.

-The boat flying off the waterfall...his death.

-The balloon rising out of the mist, with him singing "to reach for the unreachable stars"...on his way to heaven and still dreaming. A Very Happy ending.

-Underlying the entire commercial is the humor of this guy singing like Andy Williams as he blasts down the road. Honda had a great sense of humor." credit goes to mike

Edited January 5, 2007 by big blue

[SableStyle]

Personally, I love the Honda choir ad. But seeing the cog one was fascinating!