Nissan: Nissan challenges fastest man on Earth, Usain Bolt, to take on his toughest competitor yet

  • Bolt is the Japanese brand’s Global Director of Excitement
  • Nissan GT-R featured in short film to be launched in Brazil over the coming months

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Six-time Olympic gold medalist and Nissan Global Director of Excitement Usain Bolt has risen to numerous challenges on the track. Now, in Nissan’s digital campaign, “Bolt vs. Flame,” he faces an unprecedented challenger – fire.

Released today across Nissan digital channels, a two-minute, documentary-style film shows Bolt being challenged in a fictional “Fire Research Laboratory” to contend against the speed of a flame. Bolt shares in the video what it feels like to be the fastest person on Earth and how he prepares to compete on the world’s biggest stage, saying, “I set goals for myself. My goal is to be the greatest.” The video, filmed in Bolt’s home country of Jamaica, also shows the sprinter driving his custom Nissan GT-R painted in “Bolt Gold.”

“Usain Bolt’s daring attitude to always go further is inspiring. We wanted people to experience the inner strength of the most famous sprinter in history when posed with a challenge to reach even further. This is also an opportunity for fans to see Usain with his custom Nissan GT-R, which soon will be available in Brazil. To see the world’s fastest man driving the world’s fastest mass-produced car is exhilarating,” said Ronaldo Znidarsis, VP Marketing Sales, Nissan Brazil.

The Bolt vs. Flame film project is supported by a global social media tease campaign, featuring a series of 9.58 second videos and movie posters created from 19,000 actual matchsticks being lit on fire for dramatic effect. Additional footage and behind-the-scenes videos featuring Bolt will be released over the next month. The campaign is being supported through a robust paid social effort across Brazil.

The 2017 Nissan GT-R will be launched in Brazil in 2016, making this year the most exciting yet for the Japanese brand in South America’s largest country.

Visit the Nissan Brazil YouTube and Facebook pages to watch the videos. Direct links are below:

Bolt vs Flame

Bolt vs Legacy

About Nissan Brasil 
Nissan is among the leading car manufacturers globally and is present in Brazil as a local automaker since 2000. Today, it has more than 160 dealerships throughout the country. Its first local model was made at the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s plant in São José dos Pinhais (Paraná State) in 2002. In April 2014, a wholly owned Industrial Complex started to operate in Resende (Rio de Janeiro State), thanks to investments totaling R$ 2.6 billion channeled into a capacity output of 200 thousand vehicles and 200 thousand engines a year. The industrial site currently manufactures the Nissan March and the Nissan Versa, in addition to two dual-fuel engines: 1-liter 12-valve and 1.6-liter and 16-valve powertrains.

Nissan do Brasil is an official partner of the world’s largest sporting event in Rio. The Nissan Team subsidizes 31 Brazilian athletes with Olympic and Paralympic potential, thus contributing to prepare new local talents and help Brazil to achieve good results. Hortência Marcari, Brazilian basketball icon and Olympic medalist, and Clodoaldo Silva, one of the biggest Paralympic medalists of all time, are the mentors of the Nissan Team.

About the Nissan Institute 
The Nissan Institute was created in June 2013 to manage Nissan Brazil’s social responsibility activities. It is the first institution of this kind founded by Nissan worldwide. The Nissan Institute’s core pillars are to promote mobility, sustainability and contribute to community improvement through education. It has the mission of valuing and transforming lives through the promotion of free education, vocational training, health care, social assistance and a better environment.

About Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun brands. In fiscal year 2014, the company sold more than 5.3 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.3 trillion yen. Nissan engineers, manufactures and markets the world’s best-selling all-electric vehicle in history, the Nissan LEAF. Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan manages operations in six regions: ASEAN Oceana; Africa, Middle East India; China; Europe; Latin America and North America. Nissan has a global workforce of 247,500, and has been partnered with French manufacturer Renault under the Renault-Nissan Alliance since March 1999.

 

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Contact

Shiro Nagai
Nissan Corporate Communications, Japan
+55 (21) 2134-9192
 nagai-s@mail.nissan.co.jp

Rogerio Louro
Nissan Corporate Communications, Brazil
+55 (21) 2134-9192
Rogerio.Louro@nissan.com.br

Audra Silverman
International Media
+1 212-704-4463
audra.silverman@uegworldwide.com

Rebecca Timms
International Media
+1 212-738-6068
rebecca.timms@uegworldwide.com