Category: Integrated Film
Advertiser: RENAULT
Product/Service: MEGANE
Agency: PUBLICIS LONDON
Agency: PUBLICIS MODEM
Production Company: SMUGGLER, London, UNITED KINGDOM
Date of First Appearance: Aug 5 2010
Executive Creative Director: Tom Ewart/Adam Kean
Creative Director: Ed Robinson
Copywriter: Matthew Lancod
Art Director: Robert Amstell
Agency Producer: Colin Hickson/Joe Bagnall
Account Supervisor: Jason Cobbold
Producer: Drew Santarsiero
Director: Henry-Alex Rubin
Account Manager: Selina Osborn/Betty Fadier
Planner: Julian Earl/Mike Wade
Media placement: TV - - 05 August 2010
Media placement: ONLINE - - 09 August 2010
Media placement: CINEMA - - 10 September 2010
English Description
In 2010, a genuine, yet curious, set of statistics showed that towns with more Renault Méganes have happier residents, longer life expectancies and higher fertility rates––or as the French would put it; more Méganes equals more ‘Joie de Vivre’.
We decided to put these statistics to the test, by sending a French actor, posing as an expert in joie de vivre, to Gisburn, Lancashire. Gisburn is a genuine British town that had no Méganes and very little joie. Our question; Can A Car Change A Town? The resulting film was an unscripted, 11-minute documentary, featuring the transformation of a quaint, yet dull, English village.
10, 40 and 60 second ads featured exerts from the experiment, designed to drive people online where they could watch the full documentary. The film sparked immediate controversy and a media storm followed. This generated £1.5 million of free media coverage and users logged on to watch the film in their droves.