Supercheap Auto unveils latest action-packed ‘Octane Island’ campaign via The Dreamers

Three countries; eight months of production; sixty-plus crew; ten shoot days; eighty-five flights; eight hundred plus hours of VFX; twelve race cars, forty sets of tyres; one Hollywood star.

Supercheap Auto’s forthcoming advertising campaign, created by production company The Dreamers, will again raise the bar of what is possible in an all out action packed TV commercial goes live at 10am on Wednesday 18 October.

Last year’s ‘The Best Performing Oils’ campaign, also created by The Dreamers, had an incredible 60M+ views world wide, far exceeding the expectations of the Australian automotive parts retailer.

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Says David Bauer, GM Marketing at Supercheap Auto: “Last year’s campaign was phenomenal, out performing any campaign we’ve ever done. To be voted as one of the Top 8 Ads in the 2017 World Retail Awards demonstrates the incredible effectiveness of what we were able to achieve with The Dreamers.”

Says Allan Hardy, director of The Dreamers: “We knew we had to go bigger and better this year, and we’ve managed to achieve something incredible.

“We’ve created Octane Island, which houses a series of individual brand campaign releases, the first of which is the ‘The Best Performing Oils’ campaign. With five months of pre-production and developing the creative, we were able to turn this dream into reality.

The TV commercial was filmed throughout Japan, USA and Australia.

“We were incredibly fortunate to work with iconic Hollywood actor Danny Trejo (Heat, Desperado, Con Air) who I’ve long admired,” says Hardy, noting that “the chance to work with one of his heroes was one of the best moments of his career so far.”

The commercial uses the hit song ‘Fortunate Son’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival as performed by Aussie Hip Hop stars Bliss n Eso, to enrich the story and action sequences. ARIA Award winners Bliss n Eso are fresh off their third Australian Number One album release ‘Off The Grid’, and have had an amazing run of Australian touring shows before they head off to North America for the rest of the year.

Says Hardy: “Fortunate Son is such a powerful song, certainly iconic from featuring in so many movies. It was an exciting challenge to collaborate with both Creedance Clearwater Revival and Bliss n Eso to bring to life a new version of this classic track.”

The filming of the new ‘The Best Performing Oils’ campaign was shot in three exciting locations rarely seen before on film. Hardy said it was a dream come true, having the opportunity to scour the world for the coolest possible locations.

“We used an abandoned power station in rural NSW that hasn’t seen the light of day in around thirty years, so it was an immense hurdle to make sure that the building could handle what we were throwing at it” says Hardy. “It was up to the task though, and the backdrop that it provides is pretty breathtaking.”

The crew then travelled to Calder Park Raceway, a dilapidated NASCAR style track on the outskirts of Melbourne to continue filming the high action scenes.

Additional filming took place on the abandoned Hashima Island, Japan (as seen in James Bond ‘Skyfall’) and in Hollywood using a mix of Australian and American crew and talent.

Featuring at the heart of the new commercial is a mix of the most powerful, unique and adrenaline fueled cars you can find. These 1200 horsepower machines are known for unleashing explosive and entertaining displays at motorsport events and are loved by fans nation-wide, but never have they been put through such crazy challenges in hostile environments.

Says Hardy: “We wanted this to be an experience, we wanted this to be our own Hollywood action film.”

The shooting days had ten high performance vehicles, pyrotechnics teams, stunt drivers and a sixty-plus crew over ten days to ensure The Dreamers vision was captured with technical sophistication.

The Dreamers is a powerful team who create exhilarating visual content and rich storytelling.

Says Hardy: “We work with clients who share our high-energy and passion, to create engaging entertainment, brand and advertising content. We thrive on bringing a unique approach to all types of projects, and we love to constantly redefine what’s possible and push the boundaries to give our clients the best campaigns they could have imagined.”

Hardy has over a decade of experience in directing, producing and distributing large scale projects throughout the broadcast, music, marketing and film industries. Hardy has a vast collection of skills and experiences that allow him to push any form of visual project to an international level of execution and release.

Says Hardy: “Working with the most amazing clients such as Supercheap Auto, Red Bull, Nike, Holden and Ford, it’s given us the opportunity to be on the World media stage and at the forefront of new ways of thinking and execution.

“I love to be surprising and push the limits of creative endeavours, it’s what it takes to get our client’s work embraced by their communities. I love what I do, and I can’t wait to keep working with exciting brands who share the same mantra as The Dreamers.”

Octane Island commercial hits screens today and no doubt will have the film and TV industry abuzz with this highly ambitious campaign.

Head to www.octaneisland.com.

SUPERCHEAP AUTO In association with THE DREAMERS presents “OCTANE ISLAND” A film by: ALLAN HARDY

MATT MURRELL