VIDEO: the making of Honda's "Cog" commercial
The folks over at the National Association of Manufacturer's blog, shopfloor.org, posted a video this weekend that's a must-see for Rube Goldberg fans everywhere. Honda's famous "Cog" video (so-called because the video begins with a single cog rolling down an incline) was produced in the U.K. in 2003 and featured a very Rube Goldberg-esque "machine" comprised of parts from a Honda Accord. The TV commercial required 606 different takes and four and a half months of production before it was completed, and has gone on to become something of a cult classic.
Well, in the "Cool Stuff Being Made" department, Shopfloor.org has a video trifecta for your viewing enjoyment: the original Cog TV commercial, a behind the scenes video of how the commercial was made, and an illustrated guide to the various Accord bits and pieces used in the video. Enjoy!
[Source: Shopfloor.org] Thanks for the tip, Dave!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
All World Automotive 11:14AM (8/15/2006)
As far as commercials go, this one was pretty intense the amount of work needed to complete it.
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John B 12:14PM (8/15/2006)
Cool. Easily one of the best commercials ever. I believe it wasn't shown in North America due to its length.
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Riker 1:06PM (8/15/2006)
Also the fact that it was for the euro-spec Accord, which was a completely different car that didn't come here. (Well, it eventually arrived as the Acura TL).
Note: I'm speaking from the perspective of the U.S. No firsthand knowledge of whether this thing made it to Canada as a Honda... I don't think it did though.
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funksobruva 1:08PM (8/15/2006)
Hello?!? Honda stopped making wagons for the U.S. market eons ago, remember?
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Leather Bear 1:52PM (8/15/2006)
Actually, the car featured in the Cog spot is the British Accord wagon (or "estate" as they call this body style in Old Blighty). The US does get the sedan version of this car car, badged as the Acura TSX (not the TL as mentioned earlier, which is based upon the larger US version of the Accord and is made on the same assembly lines in Ohio as most of the American Accords).
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unimental 2:15PM (8/15/2006)
I still remember the first time I saw that ad. I've never been so excited to share a piece of video with my friends. Thanks for bringing this one back, Autoblog!
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Graham 2:22PM (8/15/2006)
Check out "The Way Things Go," the film this commercial is based on. You might be able to find it floating around youtube or someplace similar.
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L 2:32PM (8/15/2006)
I still don't understand how the wheels/tires go up the ramp like that
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Jon 5:06PM (8/15/2006)
8. I still don't understand how the wheels/tires go up the ramp like that.
Weights inside the wheel. The weight is positioned at about 1 o'clock so when it gets bumped, it pulls the tire up the ramp... ;)
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DPC car videos 5:45AM (9/01/2006)
One of the best commercials ever made by a car company, for some reason this commercial never gets old eventhough I have seem it 4 years ago.
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