Honda Australia launches water brand H2O to demonstrate how clean Honda FCX’s hydrogen fuel technology is via Leo Burnett, Melbourne
A wall-sized, 1966 quote from Soichiro Honda greets visitors to Honda’s head office saying, “Leave blue skies for our children”. This commitment to a cleaner future led Honda to develop the world’s first mass production car that runs only on hydrogen – the Honda FCX, so the only emission from its exhaust is water. Water so pure and clean, you could put it in a bottle and drink it.
To demonstrate just how clean Honda’s hydrogen fuel technology is, Honda Australia and Leo Burnett Melbourne decided to put it into the hands (and mouths) of the audience, launching H2O – the first water brand created by a car company.
Says Jason Miller, Honda Australia’s general manager communications and customer: “We believe in ‘The Power of Clever Thinking’. Our work designing cars like the FCX is the embodiment of this ethos. H2O is an engaging way for us to demonstrate our commitment to reducing our environmental footprint to people, instead of simply telling them.”
Says Sarah McGregor, head of copy at Leo Burnett Melbourne: “H2O is a simple but tactile demonstration of Honda’s clever thinking. The kind of thinking that continues to redefine the car category.”
H2O was distributed in Palace Cinemas nationally.
Agency – Leo Burnett Melbourne
Executive Creative Director: Jason Williams
Head of Copy: Sarah McGregor
Senior Designer: Matt Portch
Production Manager – John Trifonopoulos
Group Account Director – Chris Ivanov
Account Manager – Khia Croy
21 Comments
wouldn’t drink it but dayummn that’s good
http://youtu.be/8dyrhPlU9Mw
How much better if a branded reusable bottle was used rather than just more plastic to feed the plastic islands or create more problems …footprint?
This is very cool… but what about the bottles?
Hopefully they are as recyclable as the water.
http://www.sfbg.com/2014/03/11/sf-bans-water-bottles
Wow, what an incredibly deceptive case film.
I really wanted to believe they had bottled the emissions into a drinkable water.
Naughty Leos!
http://www.honda.com.au/clever-thinking.aspx
And just in time for Cannes… but nice one. It’s smart.
From the car or not – good evidence of a car companies environmental credentials.
Yeah right..plastic bottles full of water that isn’t actually produced by the car…really great for environmental credentials and comprehension…obviously designed for plastic people!
As if anyone would do an idea like this and then put the water in non-recyclable bottles.
Back in the 13th century when I worked as a writer on another leading Japanese car brand (let’s just call it Toyota) I presented an idea for a Fuel Cell powered prototype whose only emissions were water. The idea called for the MD of the carmaker to declare his faith in the non-polluting properties of the car and then demonstrate this by drinking some water emitted straight out of the exhaust pipe, from a glass. The script then had him fall to the floor, clutching his throat and thrashing around like a dying fly. Just when you think this is the most horrible thing you’ve ever seen he leaps to his feet and laughs.
The client didn’t buy it.
Honda, you can have it for free.
Dollar for dollar, bottled water is, by far, the most expensive, pointless and polluting products the world has ever seen.
It requires a gigantic carbon footprint to create the plastic then drive the fucking stuff around the country in exhaust belching lorries (which don’t use hydrogen fuel technology) for gullible fuckwits to pay three dollars for something they could get for less than a cent from their tap.
So all in all, the most wonderful example of marketing and advertising bullshit at its most pointless and arrogant.
A bit like this then.
A plastic bottle containing tap water that didn’t come from the water that a non-polluting car produced, but needed lorries and pollution to create.
Jesus.
Considering plastic bottles require a third of their volume in oil just to be manufactured and a huge amount of energy (CO2) to be transported and refrigerated, this stunt would seem like a counterintuitive way to promote how Honda are “leaving blue skies for our children”. It’s a shame because it’s actually a great automative innovation.
I loved this idea…until the hypocrisy of bottled water was so eloquently pointed out.
can’t help but think LB Melb missed a trick on this one. Idea is okay but the execution is poor – looks scamy (in cinemas, pls!) and the plastic bottles undoes all the hard work. Plus the fact that it’s not actually the water from the vehicle is just stupid. Feels like an April fools joke. Shame.
It’s a smart, low impact, highly targeted idea that promotes the future of motoring.
Nice idea guys.
Ah, the truths we don’t tell imply the lies we wish we could.
While the idea is nice, they obviously wanted to actually make the bottled from vehicle emissions but the client wouldn’t let them, leaving Leo Burnett to tell us a story that has fooled many a journalist, blogger and ad-lander.
Note to Cannes jury:
“UPDATE Honda wanted to clarify that the H2O water is not literally exhaust fumes, but bottled spring water as symbol of its clean tech.”
Oh great another worlds first. There hasn’t been one of those in at least a week.
Leo’s again showing us how to damage a brand.
Don’t get me started on the new City spot. APPALLING.
I would love to trade my Camry or Sorento with the newer technology with hydrogen fuel cell. As an engineer, I saw a video about cars running using H2O instead of fossil fuel from a third world. Australia should lead the way in having hydrogen fuel cell car on the road as petrol price is increasing.
cold petrol: h20 petrol
Honda always think different from other Auto Industry. They develop & design the vehicle which is more user-friendly, stylish, new technology. I always support Honda Cars of my choice