The 20 best car adverts ever made, ranked
From a Fiat built by robots to a Honda diesel engine chased out of a rainbow: twenty car adverts ranked on idea, craft, bravery, published effectiveness and legs.
Sector
Automotive
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79/100Skoda Fabia “Cake”: the car advert that refused to show the car
Fallon was handed a facelifted supermini whose product briefing led with an umbrella holder. It built a full-size Fabia out of cake instead, in real time, with no rehearsal.
87/100Volvo Trucks “The Epic Split”: the product demo that won an effectiveness Grand Prix
Forsman & Bodenfors put Jean-Claude Van Damme between two reversing trucks in one take to prove a steering system. The craft, the view counts and the dealer evidence, reviewed.
81/100Renault Clio “Papa? Nicole?”: the seven-year soap opera that sold a supermini
Publicis ran two words for seven years, ended it with a wedding watched by an estimated 23 million people, and sold more than 300,000 Clios in the UK. A full review.
Volvo’s new safety ad doesn’t show a single Volvo
Volvo's new film borrows the showroom walkaround format, then pixellates every car in it, because none of them are Volvos. They just carry safety systems Volvo invented and gave away.
95/100Volkswagen “Think Small”: why the greatest print ad ever made still works
DDB's 1959 Volkswagen Think Small campaign put a tiny Beetle on an empty page and admitted its faults. We review the idea, the craft and what it taught advertising.
91/100Honda “Cog”: the two-minute chain reaction that sold a brand on engineering
Wieden+Kennedy London took an Accord apart and let it knock itself over for 120 seconds. The takes myth, the Fischli and Weiss row and the sales numbers, reviewed.