Honda tries out "Live Every Litre" campaign for CR-Z hybrid

So far, Honda has framed the CR-Z hybrid with the joy of driving and values you can share themes. The latest message the company wants to sell the sporty with is that the car helps you "Live Every Litre," which strikes us as an odd phrase to promote fuel efficiency.

As the spelling of liter hints at, this campaign is coming from Honda Motor Europe, which will outfit a CR-Z with cameras and allow European drivers the chance to get behind the wheel all over Europe. Filmmaker Claudio Von Planta will follow the car with his own camera and edit together a feature-length documentary that will, according to Honda PR, "capture the unique stories of this diverse and exciting group of individuals who campaigned for the chance to be involved in this ground-breaking project." Filming takes place this May and interested participants can apply now to be a part of the movie here. Registration ends March 19.

[Source: Honda]

PRESS RELEASE

Live Every Litre with the Honda CR-Z

04.02.2010
Honda Motor Europe is today launching 'Live Every Litre', a project that takes the all-new CR-Z sporty hybrid car directly to consumers across Europe. The car will be rigged with cameras to record the experiences of participants as they embark on journeys or challenges around Europe. Award-winning, Swiss-born filmmaker, Claudio Von Planta, will also film their adventures to create a unique documentary.

The CR-Z will be followed by Claudio and his team as the participants travel to the event, experience or during the drive they have always wanted to make. Their reactions, emotions and experiences will be captured by state of the art cameras and edited into a feature film of the journey. The documentary will capture the unique stories of this diverse and exciting group of individuals who campaigned for the chance to be involved in this ground-breaking project.

The event takes place during May before the CR-Z goes on sale, giving the public unprecedented access to the world's first 6-speed manual hybrid. The event will provide an opportunity for people across Europe to see, and for the lucky participants to experience, the perception altering coupe. The new sporty hybrid lends itself to such a task, as Honda Motor Europe, Senior Vice President, Ken Keir explains: "We feel the CR-Z is the perfect car for this social media activated campaign because it combines low emissions, with an entertaining driving experience. The ability to tailor the car's dynamics to the situation with the 3-mode drive system in the CR-Z, means the stars of our film will enjoy themselves in town, or on the open road."

To have a chance of taking part in this ground-breaking social media driven event hopefuls will need to log on to www.liveeverylitre.com where they can outline the type of journey, challenge or drive on which they wish to take the CR-Z. These experiences are totally generated by the user who may want to propose to their girlfriend in Paris, take their band to play a charity gig, trace their ancestry to find a long lost relative or simply drive the road they've always dreamed of.

Once they have submitted their application they can promote their experience online via social media channels of their choice. Through the Live Every Litre website they will be able to download widgets to promote their application to friends, family, colleagues and wider communities. The Director will work with an independent panel of bloggers joining our campaign team to choose the final cast, based on the community's favourite and most highly rated auditions.

Honda has torn up the rule book with Live Every Litre, as Laura Price, PR Executive, at Honda Motor Europe explains: "Live Every Litre is going to give those who consume media online the chance to do something unique and different. We hope to give people the opportunity to fulfil long held ambitions and experience something they can't in everyday life. A large portion of this campaign will be 'crowd sourced', with participants and the online community moulding the final outcome, and that is what makes it such an exciting project."

The route and journeys which will become part of the Live Every Litre project will not be decided until all the potential participants have submitted their dream on the website, and the community has cast their votes. Applications open immediately and close on 19 March 2010, with the trip beginning in May, and fans will be able to watch the adventures unfold live on the Live Every Litre website.

ENDS
A few words from our director, Claudio Von Planta: "I'm a passionate documentary filmmaker with more than 20 years of freelance experience. I'm probably best known for filming LONG WAY ROUND and LONG WAY DOWN where I followed the actors Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman on motorbike journeys around the world and across Africa.

Besides the adventure entertainment, I'm particularly proud about some of my more difficult current affairs films - maybe less fun to watch, but they won me prestigious recognition. SURVIVING SUDAN - a report about the plight of Darfur refugees earned an Emmy nomination for best long format investigative documentary in 2006. LIVING WITH AIDS won the One World Media Award 2006 for best broadcast journalist and was a finalist for best TV documentary.

More information about my background can be found on my website: http://www.vonplanta.net

I'm thrilled about the new possibilities of publishing videos over the internet. It goes beyond television because it offers fascinating networking possibilities on an unprecedented global scale."