Honda Found a Clever Way to Shoot This Civic Ad Entirely Indoors

As part of its broader #StayHome initiative, Honda in the United Arab Emirates engaged Memac Ogilvy for a 30-second spot shot entirely inside the residence of agency production chief Amin Soltani, who also served as director.

It features a blue 2020 Civic in action that puts a whole new twist on the notion of compact cars:

More of a sub-compact, right?

Soltani used a detailed, 18:1 scale model that belongs to the son of a local Honda executive. He moved the toy with fishing line as needed, while stacks of books and the underside of a sofa stood in for buildings and a tunnel, respectively. Ogilvy’s office camera—a Sony A7riii fitted with a macro-lens—captured the living-room drive.

This good-natured deception brakes at the end—watch for hints along the way—and the piece closes with the line, “Until we drive again.”

City, highway and carpet mileage may vary!

As the pandemic cancels commercial shoots around the world, agencies have learned to make do with a whole lot less. For example, director Kiran Koshy cast his daughter and family dog in a PSA for a Malaysian pet-care company, and it filmed in his own backyard. TBWADublin produced this harrowing domestic abuse appeal via Zoom and FaceTime. On a larger scale, McCann will tout Microsoft Teams with an entire ad series shot inside the video-chat app.

CREDITS

Agency Chief Creative Officer / Juggi Ramakrishnan
Creative Director / Jean-Pierre De Villiers
Creative Team / Nicolas Lopez and Fernando MonteroClient Team Lead / Hadi BalloutSenior Account Manager / Kenneth MonisAccount Manager / Firas RehimiHead of Production / Amin SoltaniDirector / Amin Soltani
Junior Producer / Ann VaasClient
Grant Bowring / Head of Marketing & Brand Operations
Rohit Bedekar / Marketing Communication Executive
Emad Hassan / Digital Marketing Manager