VIDEO: Honda goes mental with Hondamentalism
Every automaker has its own subset of dedicated enthusiasts, with varying levels of obsessive behavior. Honda is no different. Take away the misinformed ricers, and Honda's racing heritage stands alone in a sea of commuter-infused mediocrity.
In order to recognize the Big H's engineering prowess and its motorsports legacy, Honda has launched a new ad campaign in the UK that focuses on the automaker's obsessive compulsive attention to detail. Dubbed Hondamentalism, the idea is to forge a link between its racing successes and its consumer vehicles – hardly a new concept – but the way it's presented deserves a look. The new spot, posted after the jump, will give you a feel for the campaign as a whole, albeit in a somewhat melodramatic, Aphex Twin-influenced creative.
You can get your head into the campaign by heading over to the Hondamentalism website, and you can check out a brief run down on what the Red H is all about here.
[Source: Honda]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rick Lyon 4:16PM (5/11/2007)
Well, if the above car is what UK drivers have as options, then the US version of the campaign would be HondaBoringism.
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Don 4:17PM (5/11/2007)
"Misinformed ricers"...lol. I'll be applying that to all you import lovers out there.
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Damon Lavrinc 4:20PM (5/11/2007)
Don -- You may have missed the point. There are two groups of sport compact people: poseurs and enthusiasts. I was referring to the former, not the latter.
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fizzandpop 4:21PM (5/11/2007)
Not one of their best ads. They'll cut it for TV, but it seemed to take forever to get to the point. From the people who brought us the Impossible Dream spot (one of the best car ads ever, right up there with the Fiat Ritmo) and the Cogs thing, this was a bit, er, whatever...
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Ben 4:59PM (5/11/2007)
It's still a Honda.
You can't polish a turd.
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Doc Lucas 5:11PM (5/11/2007)
>> You can't polish a turd.
No, but you can flush it away and never see it again, which is more than I can say for your uninsightful comment. What I wouldn't do for a PLONK button.
When I think of Honda production vehicles, and race heritage, the image in my mind is motorcycles. It is difficult to really draw comparisons between a F1 and a Civic Type R, even if the Civic slightly better as a result of Honda's F1 involvement.
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Jeremy 5:36PM (5/11/2007)
Ben, oh yes you can, but all you get is a shiny POS :)
Back to the point, kind of like this idea. Not a big fan of "The big H" but I like where they're going with this. I like it when they try and make people realize it's not their fault that the "misinformed ricers" exist and that their products can do much better.
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Damon Lavrinc 5:37PM (5/11/2007)
Doc - The "PLONK" button is on its way. Stay tuned.
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epilonious 12:41AM (5/12/2007)
I appreciate Honda's... but at the same time I'd have to say that Hondamentalism is a variation on the "crab shack" syndrome that Louis Anderson joked about... namely that everyone who gets a Honda buys it because of their insane resale value, and then perpetuates said resale value by acting like Honda can never, ever do anything wrong.
In the meantime, most of Honda's racing achievements involve masturbating another 10HP out of a premium-only NA 4-cylinder. With the S2000 they even eschewed their commitment to mileage (20-25 MPG) just so they could say they got 240 HP out of a 2.2 liter (which was a stroked version of the tooth-jarring 2.0 liter). I mean, 120 HP per liter is nifty, but they did it by revving insanely high (doing the same thing motorcycles do).
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rv 1:28AM (5/14/2007)
After the question "are you a Hondamentalist?" I clicked "No", then clicked the little "X" in the upper-right corner of my browser. Still econocars, but my local ghetto in the San Francisco peninsula loves these things. I just wonder if they have internet...
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jonjwlee 8:24AM (5/14/2007)
Love the Clarkson-esque face distortion. Incidentally, JC did that while driving an Ariel Atom. Which, incidentally, has a Honda engine...
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PandaMan 6:37AM (5/16/2007)
Personally, I like the ad, especially when it's viewed as part of a larger, integrated campaign. Okay, it's not Cogs, it's not Grrr, but it has merit.
The website that goes with this campaign (the web address at the end of the ad you're encouraged to visit) tells you more about the Hondamentalism story. Got to http://www.hondamentalism.com to see more.
Created by Midas Collective (http://www.midas-collective.com) - the London agency that creates a lot of Honda's digital work in the UK - it digs deeper into the concept of Hondamentalism.
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