• by Tanya Gazdik , December 16, 2020

Honda is launching a CGI-heavy social campaign highlighting the 2021 Civic Type R Limited Edition. 

The effort is led by a long-form 47-second video accompanied by three 15-second pieces of creative. 

The video shows the car racing against a high-tech CGI robot in the desert. As the robot chases down the Type R, it transitions from a cheetah-like creature to faster machines in-flight. But it's no match for the Type R, as the car races off into the distance. 

The series of ads can be seen across all major social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

The target audience is “the avid driving enthusiast -- with an affinity for vehicles that are all about performance and handling,” says Jessica Fini, American Honda Motor Co. social media manager. “They’re also heavily into gaming, with an appreciation for the high-energy, fantasy-based content you see throughout the creative.” 

“The Chase” showcases Type R’s performance put to the test against a robotic creature, upping the stakes beyond typical head-to-head racing. The new Limited Edition Type R model takes the already high-performing Civic Type R to the next level through several changes in engineering designed to maximize its potential while remaining street-legal, Fini says.

No actors are featured in the video, but that wasn’t due to COVID-19 limitations, she says. 

“We did make some production adjustments to get this campaign off the ground due to the pandemic, but the campaign’s overall direction didn’t change,” Fini tells Marketing Daily. “Honda’s ultimate goal has remained to produce content that resonates with our target audiences. Although ‘The Chase’ doesn’t feature on-camera talent, we worked with a smaller crew and utilized CGI, which enabled us to create a compelling campaign, while maintaining a safe environment for everyone involved.”

The campaign provided the opportunity for Honda to collaborate with Ari Fararooy, a social-first content creator best known for his stop-motion videos

The videos were created by Honda AOR RPA along with Warm & Fuzzy, a design, animation and VFX studio, which was responsible for all visual effects work on the robotic creature. Their work included concept design sketches, concept art, on-set supervision, character modeling, animation, rendering and compositing. The final product is the result of weeks worth of look development and R&D with a team of 11 artists.