Toyota launches poetic ‘Call of the Wild’ in its latest Hilux campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi NZ
Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand has unveiled the latest Toyota Hilux campaign featuring a cast of passionate, poetic animals, as they are transported on an all-new Hilux.
The spot will premiere on Toyota’s social media channels today and will launch officially with a full page ad in the Sunday Star Times, directing people to watch the full 90″ film at 7.30pm this Sunday on TVNZ.
Says Corey Chalmers, joint ECD: “Toyota has a long and rich history of creating iconic advertising around its much loved ‘ute’. From the days of Scottie and Crumpy, to the controversial but adored ‘Bugger’ commercials, to more recent campaigns featuring talking Bulls and sidecar-riding monkeys. Being given the opportunity to create the next chapter for Hilux is a real privilege and a huge honour.”
Says Guy Roberts, joint ECD: “Creating this campaign for Hilux has been an incredible labour of love, delivered by an amazing team. We hope that people enjoy it and it sells the heck out of this bloody great new ute.”
Hilux is the work-horse of heartland New Zealand and has set the benchmark for light trucks since its launch in 1976.
Says Andrew Davis, general manager marketing, Toyota: “This ute continues this legacy and also delivers on the increasing urban appetite for utes and Kiwi’s love of the great outdoors, so it was important that the latest campaign spoke to this emerging group of city dwellers. We presented Saatchi & Saatchi with a significant challenge in continuing the Hilux story, and we are excited with the final result which resets the benchmark and befits the legacy of Hilux.”
The TV campaign was directed by leading New Zealand director, Adam Stevens from Robbers Dog. The epic film was shot on location in the Reece valley in the Southern Alps amongst other New Zealand landscapes.
Each of the animal characters including ducks, fish, deer, possums and whitebait are all CGI creations, brought to life through animation and visual effects by Alt.vfx.
The new campaign also introduces a fresh brand positioning for Hilux which will appear across all elements of the advertising – The All New Hilux. The Benchmark. Rebuilt.
Last week, Toyota released a series of outtakes, ahead of the campaign launch.
Read the full Ode:
ODE to the Hilux
OH JOY! To be upon the new Hilux, transported.
We’ll not be hunted – but happily courted!
Inspired by you to wax lyric in sonnet,
mounted up proudly on your mighty steel bonnet!
From river to forest and fiord upon trail,
Your sweet engine purrs, refusing to fail.
Catching our eyes, foul hooked and kissed –
carry us with pride to the local taxidermist!
And even if you make a fair decent mess of us,
We’ll embrace our destiny – flattened without fuss!
Hunters, grunters and punters rejoice!
All the wildebeests and Sunday feasts yell out CHOICE!
Unbreakable in spirit, leaving other trucks bitter
It’s an honour to be transported into a piping hot fritter!
To the truck for good buggers, gear luggers and ditch diggers,
the big boat tuggers, lovers of rugger, and wild piggers!
The benchmark is back! Rebuilt to be a winner!
Raise a glass to the legend – while you have us for dinner!
It’s an honour to lie in the tray of your booty,
Hilux, you put the “ute” in “you bee-ute-y!”
Client: Toyota New Zealand Limited
Alistair Davis – Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Davis – General Manager UV & Marketing, Executive
Susanne Hardy – Assistant Manager Marketing
Creative Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Nicky Bell – CEO
Guy Roberts – ECD
Corey Chalmers – ECD
Paul Wilson – General Manager
Susie Darling – Business Director
Murray Streets – Director of Strategy
Amanda Brittain – Senior Account Manager
Executive Producer – Jane Oak
Anna Kennedy – Senior Producer
Rob Flynn – Designer
Ross Davies – Designer
Tomas Cottle – Illustrator
Production Company: Robber’s Dog
Director: Adam Stevens
Executive Producer: Mark Foster
Managing Director: George Mackenzie
Producer: Helen Hendry.
DOP: Shelley Farthing-Dawe
Editor: Stewart Reeves (Rock Paper Scissors)
Visual Effects: Alt.vfx
VFX Supervisor: Colin Renshaw
Executive Producer: Kate Stenhouse
Sound design: The Coopers
Composition: Elliot Wheeler @ Turning Studios
Photographer: Ross Brown @ Match Photography
Retoucher: Andy Salisbury
30 Comments
Incredible!
more talking animals. Wow. Cutting edge.
cute how they put all the credits on it. This will take you all the way to Cannes. haha
Notice how the ECDs always hog the work. Not a writer or director credited. It’s like that over there is it?
How is it possible to produce such divergent creative in this region for the same car?
Well done NZ.
That just leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
Bloody awful
How is it possible to produce such divergent creative in this region for the same car?
Well done NZ.
What person would be happy to commercialise and glorify the deaths of animals? Ah! Right! Any one in advertising who is getting paid. C’mon guys. Disappointing.
The CGI road kill are nasty… like really nastily badly done.
Nice FX work Colin.
Shouldn’t the possum have had an Aussie accent?
Wonderful. Hit my FB feed within hours via lots of fishing and hunting friends so it’s reaching the right audience – everywhere. Watch it garner millions of views in the coming days and weeks. Not everyone will like it, but who gives a shit?
Grow up. No wonder Australians can’t produce good work with nanny-state narrow minded, no-humour people like you. This is awesome work. Again NZ punches above its weight, well done!
That actually makes me feel sick. What stupid idea.
Well here we go again,
Film quality CGI animals, check
Good cinematography in some great locations, check
Edgy, well targeted creative, check
Let the jealous hate fest begin…
If you are taking offence at the animal content then I hope you are at least a vegetarian.
Come on people, we can do better than this, at least offer some constructive criticism instead of the usual one line of bile before signing out and returning to your hate filled little life.
I am also jealous, but for a whole other reason, that NZ get to have the fun with this stuff while we are squashed down to lowest common denominator.
Come on people, yes the idea might be on the edge of good taste,
but you cannot deny the execution is superb.
Well done.
Toyota promoting the killing of helpless animals. In 2015, this couldn’t be further off the mark, only bogan, redneck, petrolhead hunters will buy this shit.
@ Why Bother…
You have a very valid point in regard to the issue of constructive criticism and this piece of advertising doesn’t warrant it. It’s a well executed piece of film made by an obviously talented group of people.
One can also get distracted by the issue of “political correctness” as it would be incredibly naive to just question this advert on these terms or draw parallels with people living in a over regulated managed state or society. This isn’t about that. This isn’t what’s wrong with this.
The real truth is, some (if not many) will find this offensive as very few like to exhort the act of killing. Yes hunting exists and there are those that enjoy it and those people out there in the world who will relate to this communication. And yes people out there eat meat but they don’t like to be reminded of how it came to them.
If one were to imagine if this was an advert for some range of meats or small goods and it involved animals being herded up, then transported and then corralled – but singing along their merry way – at an abattoir and at some stage obviously dead – one would assume that there would be many who would find this distasteful and offensive. This commercial is actually doing the same thing.
In this case, it’s portraying many animals that have been killed for sport. Aside from the possum and yes the possum is evil. Yes they came from Australia and New Zealand would be a remarkably better country if they weren’t there.
But this shouldn’t be the point of debate around this post and should state that I’m not an animal rights advocate.
The question I have is how in the hell did an idea like this get made by one of the worlds largest car manufacturers. Why would any manufacturer of anything want to be associated with the act of killing? And technically needless killing. It seems like nobodies even thought about this?
It’s a global world and these things now travel – is it worth putting off soccer mums around the world for the sake of entertaining a largely parochial audience?
those crayfish looked a bit small?
Wouldn’t happen in Australia because we’re all so worried about being offended. In fact, we’re so worried about being offended that we’re also worried about minority groups we’ve never even met / hang out with being offended (#illridewithyou – No? Really? You know muslims? Wow. In Paddington?).
But fuck PETA, this is nice. Maybe not gold, but definitely a nice spot for the juries.
Good to see Scratchies still exists in NZ.
It’s not my cup of tea.
But I just visited Toyota NZ’s fb page, and people are loving it.
Granted, they’re people who can’t spell for shit. But loving it nonetheless.
youre talking about Toyota…. From Japan.
A country who continue to needlessly Slaughter
Whales and dolphins regardless of what the
Rest of the world thinks.
They won’t give a shit about the animals…
Unless sales decline.
Clearly, may not be everyones cup of tea. But i got a good chuckle from the squirrel.
Nice work guys, funny stuff.
Brilliant. With the industry saturated with generic ‘one-size-fits-all’ car ads, it’s always refreshing to see a different take on selling a commodity. I for one am not a hunter nor a ute owner, am not the target audience but as a creative, I must admit, that’s one cleverly written ad perfectly targeted at the audience.
As for all the haters, vegetarians and animal whisperers — relax, it’s just a funny car ad.
It’s funny. And this is what life was like in Australia before hipsters put on aprons to make lattes.
Seriously, when was it ok to glorify the killing of animals to sell a product.
It’s an absolutely disgusting idea with equally bad visual effects.
Since when was it ok to glorify the killing of animals to promote a brand.
Terrible concept with equally terrible special effects.
why are there duck statues in the back of the truck?
Disgusting! That is all I can say. How can you promote a car like this. So running over an animal is cool? You are a bunch of mf hillbilly rednecks. Shame in you!
WhAt is the name of the actor in this Add