motionCTRL – “Heico Sportiv 24h – One Decision” 24h Race Nürburgring / Nordschleife 2009 from motionCTRL / Toby Kahler on Vimeo.

- How so?
- Well, they say that the drinking and driving is bad (hmmmm, ok Mr Makie?) and they put it in a form that is non-patronizing and funny.
- But them, aren’t the alcohol companies the bottom cause of all the problems? Shouldn’t they just stop manufacturing the poison?
- No. It’s the stupid people who abuse ethanol and make wrong judgments and get behind the wheel. Not the companies themselves. Don’t you enjoy a glass of a perfectly chilled rum and coke with a healthy squeeze of lime (and not just a wedge as a garnish) from time to time?
- Hmmmm, ok…

Quite frankly, the idea is really good and inventive and I’m happy to see that companies like Bacardi sign off campaigns like this one. It’s got humor, an ethically good message and it’s different. It’s also very simple, meaning easy to execute. And this brings me the actual production. I must say that it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Celebrity figure that Schumaher is does not constitute that he’s a good actor. Looking at pre-release version of the ad I noticed that Michael actually has more to say. He even adds a humorous ‘Che cos’è?’ at some point when looking at the cocktail in a glass. This however wasn’t used in the final version. I like the idea but I’m not surprised: F1 champion looks there as if he was on the way to the hospital where he was scheduled to have a stick surgically removed from his anus. At this point I digress and say that according to Stu Maschwitz ‘bad acting is bad directing’ and that’s something I’d like to agree with so I will.

Before:

After:

Well ok then: try and not call yourselves a creative agency if you are creatively impotent. For those thinking ‘haven’t I seen that somewhere before?’ – highly recommended read: you thought we wouldn’t notice.