• by Karl Greenberg , October 14, 2014

Honda, which was early to Vine for retail and buzz campaigns, is back to social to tout the new Fit compact car to Gen Y. The online social media campaign centers on a video series called “Brad, the Lyft Driver,” using a hidden camera and starring comedian Nick Thune, who drives around in the 2015 Fit.

In the videos, via Honda’s AOR, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Honda RPA, is directed by Fred Savage, who helms “Modern Family” and “Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Thune is an ersatz Lyft car-service driver named Brad, who offers his take on automotive etiquette and mindset, then demonstrates with real, unsuspecting passengers, with a humorous twist in each video. Honda’s AOR is Santa Monica-based RPA.

All of the shorts are compiled in a single 3:46 video on YouTube, each introduced by a super announcing Brad’s theme for the upcoming tutorial. In one he says the key to the driving zeitgeist is atmosphere. The demonstration: he picks up a guy, offers him a meal, which the guy thinks is a freebie, then charges him. In another he pulls over to get passengers a refreshment then asks if they have a $20 to pay for it.

In another of the videos, the theme is maintaining the right in-car vibe, then cut to him abusing people out the window, doing catcalls, and generally being obnoxious to other drivers and pedestrians, while the passenger, sitting in the co-pilot seat, looks on in horror.

In another, Brad discusses how he connects with passengers on a personal level, and he is seen playing odd personalized songs for people. 

On the Vine front, Honda is teaming with Vine stars Jordan Burt, KC James, Cody Johns and David Lopez to create short videos featuring the all-new Honda Fit in each one’s voice and style. For example, Johns uses the Fit as his date-night location and Lopez crams a lot of stuff into a Fit for a short ride.

The idea of the “Fit for You” is that the car can handle whatever life throws at a person, including, of course, the quirky Lyft driver and Vine celebrities. 

On the feature front, the work spotlights the car's interior space, practical flexibility and technology: Bluetooth, HandsFreeLink, USB connectivity, auto on-off headlights and a multi-view rear camera.