When we heard that Sam Freakin' Raimi was directing a commercial for Chevrolet that spoofs horror movie tropes, our first thought was, "Hmm, wonder how he's gonna sneak Bruce Campbell into this." Sadly, Bruce won't be found here, but the ad, by Commonwealth/McCann, is pretty good anyway.
It highlights the safety of Chevy's 2016 Malibu and Cruze models, and likens driving to being in a creepy old house full of stuff trying to kill you. (As a Maryland resident, this literally hits me where I live.) The new safety features are symbolized by unseen voices alerting the ad's doomed heroine to the numerous dangers around her.
It's an extremely clever conceit that doesn't wear out its welcome, and this clearly wasn't some empty celebrity "get" for McCann; they wanted to make the most of Mr. Raimi's talents, and they did. (If only they'd been at the helm for his Spiderman movies.)
"We approached the development of the Chevrolet trailer in the same way we would an actual movie—by thinking through the plot, characters and eventual outcome," Raimi said in a statement. "I've been in plenty of theaters where the audience is so concerned for the safety of the main characters that they call out warnings to save them. That's what this is based on."
The spot will run in 2,300 theaters and 14,000 screens nationwide over the next six months.
CREDITS
Client: Chevrolet
Agency: Commonwealth/McCann
Creative Chairman: Linus Karlsson
Chief Creative Officer, North America: Gary Pascoe
Executive Creative Director, Copywriter: Duffy Patten
Executive Creative Director, Art Director: Bob Guisgand
Creative Director, Art Director: Tim Mattimore
Creative Director, Copywriter: John Fiebke
Executive Producer: Kelly Balagna
Account Director: Jacqueline Redmond
Account Supervisor: Molly Fox
Production Company: Pacific Rim Films
Director: Sam Raimi
Director of Photography: Daniel Mindel
Production Designer: Shane Valentino
Executive Producer: Annie Johnson
Line Producer: Julia Roberson
Executive Producer/ Arcade: Nicole Visram
Producer/ Arcade: Kirsten Thon-Webb
Editor/ Arcade: Bob Murawski
Asst Editor/ Arcade: Dean Miyahira
Composer: Christopher Young
Sound Designer: Jussi Tegelman
Audio Mixer: Marti D. Humphrey