Getting your car serviced by a dealer, rather than some random mechanic, isn't just a smart idea. It's a triumph of good over evil.
That's the message of this entertaining, intentionally over-the-top Audi commercial from German agency Thjnk and Radical Media director Sebastian Strasser. And indeed, the independent mechanics here are very much to be feared, as hundreds of them—greasy mitts clutching wrenches—chase down an Audi as it roars through a desert on its way to an Audi service center for its tuneup.
It's wonderfully silly, and nicely shot. The mechanics multiply, with giant packs of them teeming and seething, falling over each other, and eventually gathering in a giant pulsing heap outside the service center—very much recalling the Grand Prix-winning PlayStation "Mountain" ad from 2003, or the zombies from World War Z.
"Don't let your Audi fall into the wrong hands," says the on-screen copy at the end.
The ad's focus "is not the 'conventional' communications about service personnel and what they have to offer, but rather the monumental showcasing of the eternal struggle between good and evil," the agency said in a statement.
Silke Miksche, head of marketing communications for Audi Germany, added: "The subject of 'service' is of tremendous importance both for the customer and for us as car manufacturer and our dealerships—and yet it has so far not been the focus of our communications. The way we approach the subject is altogether unexpected—emotional, spectacular, epic. In other words, this is truly big-screen stuff."
CREDITS
Client: Audi
Title: "Mechanics"
Agency: Thjink Berlin GmbH
Executive Creative Director: Stefan Schulte
Creative Director: Siyamak Seyedasgari
Account: Nicole Bierwolf, Hendrik Heine
Director: Sebastian Strasser
Production Company: RadicalMedia Berlin
Director of Photography: Roman Vasyanov
Producers: Christoph Petzenhauser, Kathy Rhodes, Yan Schoenefeld
Casting: Julia Kim (U.S.), Francesca Green (U.K.)
Editor: Paul Hardcastle, Trim Editing
Colorist: George K, MPC London
Score: Robert Cairns
Visual Effects: Time Based Arts, London
Visual Effects Supervisor: James Allen
Visual Effects Lead Artists: James Allen, Sheldon Gardner, Steven Grasso
