The annual Honda Summer Clearance Event campaign begins today and features well-known tunes to conjure up the rush consumers experience when they first drive off the lot in a new vehicle. RPA, Honda’s long-time agency of record, created this entertaining and memorable campaign to get the attention of consumers.
“Buying a new Honda sparks a happily-ever-after moment that is almost magical,” said Susie Rossick, Senior Manager at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “The iconic songs in this campaign stir up those same powerful emotions, reminding people in an unforgettable way that this is the best time of year to get a great deal on a Honda.”
Six spots are pitch-perfect parodies of Hollywood movie-ending clichés, with the action-adventure, family comedy, buddy, college adventure, girl-power and inspirational genres each taking a turn onscreen. Following a farewell from a friendly salesperson, an instantly recognizable song kicks on, the elated driver zooms off and the credits roll.
In “Action Adventure,” a Honda owner points his Accord toward the desert horizon to the beat of Judas Priest’s “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming.” Another spot, “Family Comedy,” set to Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door” captures the antics of shopping for an Odyssey with three kids in tow. “College Movie” shows a new Civic owner and his college buddies jamming through town to Outasight’s “Tonight Is the Night.” Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla,” and OneRepublic’s “Good Life” are the soundtracks for the other three spots.
“In this campaign, we directly address six key demographics with executions that are colorful and big like Hollywood blockbusters. Breaking through was a priority because of the clutter in the marketplace,” said RPA’s ACD/Copy Sarah May Bates.
Spots will air on high-profile network programs such as “America’s Got Talent,” “Castle,” “NCIS,” “The Middle,” “The Office,” “Two Broke Girls,” “Vampire Diaries” and cable networks, including AE, Animal Planet, Bravo, Discovery and TBS. Print ads will be featured in several national publications that include “People,” “Sports Illustrated,” “TIME” and “USA Today.”
Online ads will run in top automobile and consumer websites, including AOL Autos, Automotive.com, AutoTrader, Autobytel, Bing, Car and Driver, Cars.com, Edmunds, Facebook, Google, Jumpstart, Kelley Blue Book, Motor Trend, MSN Autos, Road Track, Source Interlink Media, Vehix and Yahoo! Autos.
In addition, a Summer Clearance sweepstakes will begin on July 16 at http://shophonda.com/. Users can enter for a chance to win free gas for a year or be awarded instant-win $100 American Express gas card prizes.
Credits:
Client: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Spot Titles: “Action Adventure,” “Big Victory,” “Buddy Film,” “College Movie,” “Family Comedy,” “Girls Rule”
First air date: July 16, 2012
Agency: RPA
ECD: Joe Baratelli
GCD: Jason Sperling
CD: Curt Johnson
ACD/Copy: Sarah May Bates
Sr. AD: Jeni Stewart
Agency Executive Producer: Gary Paticoff
Senior Producer: Brian Donnelly
Broadcast Production Coordinator: Ryan Radley
Broadcast Production Assistant: Grace Wang
Production Company: Partizan
Director: Jeremy Konner
Head of Production: Lori Stonebraker
Producer: Bridget Blake-Wilson
Editorial Company: The Reel Thing
Executive Producer: Doug Klekner
Editor: Lance Pereria (“Action Adventure,” “Big Victory,” “Buddy Film,” “College Movie,” “Girls Rule”)
Editor: Scott Dearborn (“Family Comedy” only)
Music
“College Movie” (Civic)
Artist: Outasight, Track: “Tonight Is the Night”
“Girls Rule” (Accord)
Artist: Wojahn Bros
Artist: Cyndi Lauper, Track: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”
“Buddy Film” (Pilot)
Artist: Wojahn Bros
Artist: OneRepublic, Track: “Good Life”
“Big Victory” (Civic)
Artist: Wojahn Bros
Artist: Derek and the Dominos, Track: “Layla”
“Action Adventure” (Accord)
Artist: Judas Priest, Track: “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”
“Family Comedy” (Odyssey)
Artist: Wojahn Bros
Artist: Pete Townshend, Track: “Let My Love Open the Door”
About RPA
RPA, headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., is a leading independent advertising agency. RPA builds momentum for brands by offering its clients truly integrated campaigns that resonate throughout its disciplines, which include traditional advertising, idigital, and direct and event marketing. RPA’s client list includes American Honda, both the Honda and Acura brands, ampm, ARCO, Castrol, California Department of Public Health, Intuit Small Business, La-Z-Boy, Farmers Insurance Group and Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. For more information, visit http://www.rpa.com.
About Honda
Honda offers a complete lineup of Honda cars, trucks and service through a network of 1,037 Honda dealerships within the United States. In 2012, Honda will mark 30 years of producing automobiles in the region, which began with the Accord in Marysville, Ohio in November 1982. Having produced over 23 million vehicles in North America, Honda currently operates 7 major automobile manufacturing facilities in the region.
Connect with Honda:
Media Newsroom (for journalists): www.hondanews.com
For consumers: http://automobiles.honda.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Honda
YouTube: www.youtube.com/honda
Flickr: www.flickr.com/hondanews
Twitter: www.twitter.com/honda
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/honda
Honda on Google+
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