Growing up, we can't remember ever having seen an ad for Radio Flyer. (Turns out there's a reason for that.) But imagine what a modern one would be like, nourished both by nostalgia and Super Bowl beer commercials.
Think back to what Radio Flyer represented when you were so small it could be anything, then scale up.
To fête its first-ever National Little Red Wagon Day, which took place Wednesday, FCB Chicago lifts Radio Flyer back into our stream of consciousness with a cute little spot that manages to embody what those wagons meant to us ... while taking the piss out of grown-up pissing contests.
"Radio Flyer Super Race Car" kicks off with two guys in a suburban driveway gawking over a spankin' Dodge Viper, the kind whose positively lickable lollipop-red hood draws radar-wielding cops like a magnetic field.
"Cool car," one guys begins. "How fast does it go?"
"Six hundred miles per hour," replies his buddy with the certainty of somebody who relishes the question.
Maybe you twitched a little. Or maybe you didn't, because The Fast and the Furious has given you a warped idea of how cars work. In any case, dude seems impressed.
"Whoa," he says. "Well, I have a car that goes six thousand miles per hour."
It's perhaps at this moment that you may notice the car owner—rightfully incredulous—is sipping from a juice box. Watch the rest of the ad below:
Wednesday marked the 100th anniversary of the iconic Radio Flyer wagon, which sparked the idea for a special day. The video may not represent much right now, but it sets the tone for how FCB imagines the "holiday" unrolling in years to come, rekindling the imagination that a little red toy inspired when it was capable of being everything we wanted at the time, from a car to a spaceship to a yacht. (Do kids want yachts? Sometimes it's hard to distinguish legit childhood memories from stuff Hermès put there.)
The work was created as a standalone project, but could eventually yield a more formal agency of record relationship (though they aren't there yet, an FCB spokeswoman hastens to emphasize). If this little toe-dip into the public awareness catches on, you can probably expect to see splashier promotions for National Little Red Wagon Day next year.
In the meantime, maybe give that spaceship a good polish.
CREDITS
Client: Radio Flyer
Agency: FCB, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Todd Tilford
Creative Directors: Myra Mazzei, Todd Durston
Creative Director: Tom Flanigan
Production Company: Lord + Thomas
Director: Ben Flaherty
Executive Producer: Katie Roach
Production Service Company: We Are Famous
Executive Producer: Joshua Greenberg
Post Production: Lord + Thomas
Senior Producer: Celena Mossell
Editor: Ilsa Misamore
Sound: Jason Ryan
Management Director: Kiska Howell
Account Executive: Darian Weaver
