Hornbach is the world's most outrageous home-improvement advertiser. Every few months, the German chain releases a bizarre new commercial, usually showing the main character experiencing the rush of do-it-yourself construction projects as some kind of extravagant sensory explosion. Its recent epic spots have included one with a deck builder wielding a hammer of the gods, and another in which the very sounds of home improvement are beautifully symphonic to their many-eared practitioners. (And let's not even get into the awesomeness of the brand's surreal short film "The Infinite House.") So, now, Hornbach is out with its latest spot—as always, it's from ad agency Heimat—which is on a par with the previous work, although this time with even more of a creepy edge to it. Suffice it to say, the lead character here is intimately attuned to the condition of his home, even from a distance, and feels any sign of weakness like a Jedi would a disturbance in the Force. Shot with irrestistible cinematic gloom by director Martin Krejci—and with a sudden tonal shift at the end that's actually quite hilarious—it's a worthy new chapter in Hornbach's own quirky ongoing construction project: that of crafting the world's craziest home-improvement ads. Credits after the jump.
Client: Hornbach
Agency: Heimat Werbeagentur GmbH
Executive Creative Director: Guido Heffels
Creatives: Mirjam Kundt, Susanna Fill
Client: Hornbach Baumarkt AG
Head of Marketing Communications: Frank Sahler
Production Company: STINK
Executive Producer: Jan Dressler
Director: Martin Krejci
Director of Photography: Stepan Kucera
Postproduction: Tom Sparks, NHB; Berlin
Editor: Filip Malasek / Nils Landmark
Music Composer: Rudi Moser