Everything that you see happened in real time exactly as you see it. The recording required 606 takes and in the first 605 takes there always was something, usually of minor importance, that didn’t work. It was necessary for the recording team to install the set-up time after time and it took several weeks working day and night to achieve this effect. The recording cost 6 million dollars and it took 3 months to finish, including the engineering design of the sequence. The duration of the video is only 2 minutes, but every time that Honda shows the commercial on British television, they make enough money to support any of us for the rest of our lives. By the way, about the shield wipers in the new Honda Accords, they are sensitive to water and designed to start working as soon as they get wet (thanks Troy).
Honda. Master Of Mechanical Complications.
Published by January 7th, 2010 in Builders, Editorial and Videos.22 Responses to “Honda. Master Of Mechanical Complications.”
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lol – brilliant, perfect, captivating – the windshield wipers are a masterful touch
The best ever auto commercial?
That was flat out awesome. Only the Japanese have that level of masochistic dedication to create something that’s so complex for the simple purpose of advertising a car. Once again, awesome.
OUTSTANDING!
Over & Out,
Jeff
Actually it was the British who had that level of masochistic dedication back in 2003, when it was created by the Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency out of London.
Never owned a Honda but maybe I should look closer. Honda just launched a commuter motorcycle. Honda India Launches 164 mpg, $900 Twister. 100 cc.
That was awesome!!
Maybe GM should do their own version- the Senator comes out of the closet, writes a check to the fake financing arm to keep the chain going…….
Looks like there’s more than one “stop-action” frame in there(??).
Did they never actually say they got the entire thing to play out, from start to finish, in one complete sequence.
(not on this clip)
-nicker-
And in what alternative universe do wheels roll up hill like that?
-nicker-
Rube Goldberg would be proud!
Well, OK,
So, the video feed probably caused the skip in some of the frames.
-nicker-
This is old. Not new news, but neat.
Nicker-after that commercial first came out I remember seeing a thing on PBS about how it was made. The wheels/tires were heavily weighted in one spot so that they actually did roll uphill. Pretty neat trick, huh?
“Making of the commercial.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh4zWeUDW-E
Great….Honda is ahead of their time.
Boss Hawg
I became a registered Honda technician in 1978.I’ve seen first hand the evolution of the company since then .Their contrabutions to all the industries they’ve entered is amazing.I know there are a lot of metric haters out there but you can’t argue that the motorcycle industry as a whole hasn”t benefited from Honda Motor Co. That commercial says it all.
Nicker,
The tires and wheels are known as “ObamaRides” …. they not only defy gravity and roll up hill they can also roll (walk on) on water …. it is called hydroplaning ….. !
Just thought you should know.
Over & Out,
Jeff
Just a thought………….. would the people that be on this forum write the exact same comments on here if this was the same (very similar) commercial, but at the end it was a Honda VTX 1800 motorcycle? (or other Honda motorcycle)
Would we here the same comments ?
Very cool I think, just wondering if it would still be a cool commercial, and cool advertizing, a bike that was not ‘American’ . Would you like it just the same ?
I dont think anyone said they like the car in the end, just would your feelings change about the ‘cool’ if it was a Honda Motorcycle at the end ?
That was amazing
Brilliant! Love the creativeness & engineering!
I’ve gor a Honda cog like the one on the right in the thumbnail … slightly smaller, it fits into the starter motor gear train on an FT500. The thing is, though, the teeth shouldn’t be missing on mine and if I hadn’t got another engine lying around, it would mean the simple kicker-less 500 single would be laid-up.
Wonderful ad though: points out just how much electronic frippery there is to go wrong. Excellent technology until it fails. Keep it simple.
GET WELL ARTIE. HOWARDSTERN RULES. BABABOOEY