In the run up to this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, Mika has been joined by Nico Rosberg and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster. Despite the obvious staging of their conversation, the insights are worthwhile reading and do a pretty good job of whetting our appetite for the race ahead.

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It’s a scene that happens hundreds of thousands of times a day around the world: two people meet in a lift, greet each other and begin to chat about work and life. The twist in this particular story, though, is that the elevator is in Monte-Carlo; the two men are resident in the same apartment building, separated by little more than a few floors; and both have written their own chapters in the very exclusive grand prix racing history of Mercedes-Benz.

Mika Häkkinen was the first Mercedes-Benz world champion of the modern era, and a two-time title winner in 1998 and 1999 with McLaren Mercedes; Nico Rosberg is the first man to win a Grand Prix at the wheel of a Silver Arrow since the great Juan Manuel Fangio, in the third season of the return of the Silver Arrows. On the eve of the race around their home streets, the two men met to discuss their experiences as part of one of the most spectacular events in world sport.

The histories of Mika Häkkinen and Nico Rosberg have been intertwined for more than twenty years, when Nico was just a young boy and Mika worked with Keke Rosberg, who led his management team.

“I don’t remember when we first met – maybe Mika does!” laughs Nico when the question comes.

“Well, I started working with Keke at the end of 1987,” recalls Mika. “I think the first time we met must have been down here in Monaco in the early ‘90s. I was visiting Keke, and you were playing in your room! It’s possible I was his first sponsor in karting – do you remember that?”

“Yeah, sure,” laughs Nico. “It was 1997, I was 11 years old and competing in the French go-karting championship. I had a poster in my room with all my sponsors on there, and one of them was you!”

“My son is eleven now,” says Mika, picking up the thread. “I’m sure I did a contract with Keke that one day, when Nico will win races and be world champion, he has to start supporting my son Hugo!”

If the early stages of Nico’s career were supported by Mika – who today himself is a partner with Didier Coton in Aces Management and has, among others, young Finn Valtteri Bottas under his wing – the parallels between the two have only grown stronger as time has passed. Both Mika and Nico had to wait until their seventh Formula One season before climbing the top step of the podium – Mika after 96 races, at the 1997 European Grand Prix in Jerez; Nico in his 111th start, at this year’s Chinese Grand Prix. And both in their third seasons driving Mercedes-Benz-powered cars.

“Your first victory in Formula One always feels like it is a long time coming,” explains Mika. “And especially in my case – but when it arrives, the feeling is just amazing. But problems are part of life, and winning or losing, they don’t disappear. You need to keep understanding the cause of disappointments and where you and the team can improve.

“There is no point having your face upside down for one week – it’s better to pick up the phone, travel, see people, talk, organise yourself. Then you know that at the next event, you will be stronger – and if not the car, then yourself; you can always be better. Because the day when you have a car to win, you have to be ready. If not, it’s too late. I knew that one day I was going to win, it just took a long time.”

“I had exactly the same feeling – Ross, all the guys, kept telling me that the win would come, I just needed to stay patient and take my opportunity,” agrees Nico. “Of course, you get frustrated if it doesn’t go perfectly, but time takes that away and you keep going, follow the development, communicate constantly with the team.”

“Nico did a perfect weekend in China and deserves full credit for that win,” emphasises Mika. “It was not depending on circumstances or luck, but purely on his hard work. As a Mercedes-Benz ambassador, it was great not only to watch his achievements, but to enjoy seeing Mercedes-Benz back on the top step of the podium.”

Inevitably, the conversation soon turns to the unique challenge of racing around the Monegasque streets, which have been home to both of them for more than 20 years. For Nico, the tunnel was once the route to school, in the passenger seat next to his Mum or on the school bus. And that ‘local’ feel is one that Mika says remains throughout the weekend.

“I had some great victories in my career, but Monaco was something special,” remembers Mika. “I have lived here for 20 years and the thing you realise is that the people who work on the race track are also the people who live and work in Monaco – the police, the pompiers. In everyday life, these are the guys you see in the street and they say ‘hi’ as you walk past. To win in Monaco is like winning in your home streets, and you recognise faces all through the weekend.”

“It’s home for me too, of course,” picks up Nico. “I’ve grown up here, all my friends are here and my family, I know everybody and it’s very special to race here. Mentally, it’s quite a demanding weekend. You have a lot going on, a lot of PR events and appointments. Plus on track, too, it’s a bit more intense – but not so much. You need to be super concentrated at every circuit.”

“That’s true. But what changed for me was that, when I got a car that I would win races with, Monaco became more important for some reason. When you are hunting pole position in Monaco, your mind changes; you put yourself in a higher power, even though you think you are doing it already. When you are fighting for P11 or P12, you always think you are doing your maximum.

“But when I started fighting for pole, it just happened that I was working even harder to reach my goal – but not purposely. And of course, we changed the car, too: the steering lock, and the seating position to sit higher in the car, because the aero was not so important and we wanted to see the Armco properly.”

“That’s interesting, because we definitely make changes, too,” says Nico. “But I don’t think it’s common practice, even today.”

With that, the two men are off to inspect the circuit at the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster. Over the years, Mercedes-Benz has been synonymous with success in Monaco – from the three consecutive victories in 1935, 36 and 37 for Fagioli, Caracciola and von Brauchitsch respectively; to the seven Formula One victories for Mercedes-Benz power, including three of the last five. And the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team will be working hard to add a new milestone to the company’s heritage this weekend.

Credit: words and pictures, Mercedes-Benz

Gallery

We’re talking about ‘Range anxiety’ – The fear that a vehicle has insufficient range to reach its destination and would thus strand the vehicle’s occupants.’

Well, what did you think we were talking about..? (stop sniggering at the back)

It’s a genuine problem which has limited the take-up of electric cars as a viable alternative to our trusty fuel-burners. Battery capacity can vary depending on the ambient temperature, how the battery has been cared for in its lifespan and of course how the car has been driven.

That’s why several alternatives to the battery electric vehicle have developed – Hybrids and Extended Range Electric Vehicle (or E-REV), such as the Chevy Volt/Vauxhall Ampera.

Unlike Hybrids, which run on either a battery powered electric motor, combustion engine or both, range extended vehicles are electrically driven at all times. In the case of Chevy’s Volt once its lithium-ion battery is depleted (after 25-50 miles), power is seamlessly inverted to the electric drive unit from its on-board petrol powered generator for a further 250 miles.

But if your daily journey is short and you’re able to plug your Volt into a socket every night to recharge it, you could conceivably never use a drop of fuel ever again.

A 1.4-litre, 85 bhp petrol engine is used to power the generator and this is fully integrated with the Volt’s 148 bhp electric drive unit consisting of two electric motors, three clutches and a planetary gearset.

The Volt’s electric drive unit delivers 370Nm (279lb-ft) of instant torque, which goes someway to disguise the Volt’s otherwise languid performance – 0 to 60mph is yours in just 9.0 seconds, but you’ll never reach 100mph (and I mean NEVER) – so stay away from the autobahns.

But that’s not what the Volt is all about. Rather than comparing it head-to-head with other £30,000 saloons, Chevy are promoting the peace of mind gained by owners who want an electric vehicle, but also want to cover combustion-engine mileages. In fact a sample of early Volt customers in the US, shows that many drive up to 1,000 miles before re-filling the fuel tank.

Some other benefits include qualifying for the government’s Plug-In Car Grant worth up to £5,000, while the Volt is also exempt from the London’s daily congestion charge, saving owners up to a further £2,000 per year. That still leaves you with its £29,995 purchase price, which although expensive is not unaffordably so.

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Sponsored video: Chevy Volt – Range Anxiety

The Volt officially went on sale here in the UK on May 1st, with first customers receiving their cars shortly thereafter. So the real question now is, how will Chevrolet market the Volt to motorists weaned on the convenience of petrol and diesel engines?

Well, to start with Chevrolet has gone 100% digital with their new advertising campaign, using a multi-ad video format developed together with Unruly Media.

The ‘Range Anxiety’ ads were created as part of the MoFilm Barcelona film competition, with the top four entries being run in the player below.

The first film, ‘Zombie Ride’, seeks to highlight the benefit of the Volt’s extended 300 mile range, demonstrating its eminent suitability as a getaway car… from zombies.  Two ‘dudes’ break down in their (petrol engine) car in the middle of nowhere, whereupon they are pursued on foot by a gang of animated ‘flesh eating’ corpses.

Luckily for them a hot girl drives up in a Chevy Volt (this never happens to me), just in time, thereby saving the day (and their skin).

‘Free Range’ is a film that, at first glance, has nothing to do with the Chevy Volt, but builds its story around the zoology of the human species – “For centuries, the human condition has been adversely affected by attempts of domestication. A condition known to the experts as range anxiety. While he longs to be with his wife, he’s paralysed by the fear he may become stranded and not make it home to his shelter by nightfall..”.

In the story, the one ‘evolved’ member of the group breaks out of the holding pen, confronting his range anxiety and taking his rightful place in the wild.

‘My Kingdom for a Volt’ is set in Avignon, 1191 D.C. featuring a character introduced to us as ‘The Hero of our Video Games’ who fears nothing.. except for the discharging battery on the player’s console. He spends the next 40 seconds complaining that he and other characters within the game, live in fear (sic) of the console switching off at any moment leaving them stranded between levels.

The final film is called ‘Range Anxiety Anonymous’ which parodies a self-help group, opening up about their bad electric vehicle experiences. After one particularly distraught mother-of-two, Sheryl, explains how buying an electric car has given her range anxiety – she’s been stranded 17 times, whilst the kids haven’t seen their grandmother in 8 months – the group then turns to ‘Steve’ for his story.

It’s at this point the group leader realises Steve is missing, only to discover that he’s bought a Chevy Volt.

How is the campaign performing?

‘Alternative comedy’ is a term that originated in the 1980s and which I always took to mean ‘comedy which isn’t funny’. Well, the winning film, ‘Zombie Ride’, is almost funny, but I had to watch the other films several times in order to ‘get’ what they were about.

That’s normally a disadvantage for social videos, where audiences have short attention spans and the first 30 seconds are crucial in retaining their interest.

Likewise, when we reflect on the psychology of ad effectiveness, there is neither a persuasive style of engagement (reasoning why the Volt is better than other electric vehicles) nor an association with positive ideals, apart from when the dudes in ‘Zombie Ride’ get saved by the hot girl (did I mention that never happens to me?).

It’s perhaps not surprising therefore that the films have yet to challenge the Viral Video chart Top 100. They’ve only been out a week, so there’s still time for them to catch on, but I suspect the audience Chevy are really aiming for are those people who have already owned an electric vehicle and can identify with the anxiety of being stranded.

Has Chevy assuaged these fears, or merely made more people aware that such a problem exists? We’ll let you be the judge of that.

Credits: all data provided by Unruly Media’s Viral Video Chart.

Disclosure: This article is sponsored in part by Chevrolet, however all views expressed within are entirely our own. Sponsored articles are accepted at our own discretion and only where we believe such focus or analysis will benefit our readers. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this article further, then please get in touch via email or using the contact tab on this page.

If you look closely you’ll spot a copywriting error (or at least it looks that way to me) – the headline says “One New Part Every Month!”, whereas the body copy refers to Week 1′s part: Screw A-76-FD-1, with next week’s part: Screw A-76-FD-2.

The ad says, “Zippy go-kart handling (sic) is brought to life in this unique 29,762 part series. Capture the joy of MINI, collect one new part every month and enjoy years of fun for the whole family.”

If it were indeed a ‘monthly’ collectible series then by my estimates it would take just over 2,480 years (not including build time) to create your own MINI Countryman, although if weekly it would still take just over 572 years to assemble.

We’ve put an enquiry into MINI HQ in Cowley to find out about their stock retention policies, before we advocate this as a good way of spreading payments on a new Countryman..

Researchers discovered that Darth Vader’s navigation voice increases children’s happiness in the car by over 68%. More than 300 baby and toddler volunteers took part in Project GAGA, a six month NavLab research project to find the perfect satnav voice for families with small children.

“Everything we do is about making journeys better,” said Walter Hermsen VP Product Management. “When we found that for 97% of parents, ‘crying and unhappy children’ is the single biggest source of disturbance in the car, we knew we had to find a solution and Project GAGA was launched.”

In scientific tests, Darth Vader gained the highest happiness score with children aged six months to two years. The Dark Lord’s voice was tested alongside 25 other popular satnav voices but children responded most positively to Darth Vader’s breathy tones, whilst Yoda’s voice reduced many babies to tears.

“Our customers have been telling us for years that their TomTom navigation voice feels like part of the family,” continues Hermsen. “Now, it would seem that every family car should have Darth Vader on board to cheer up children and parents alike.”

Subaru’s engineers have developed the radical new technology in conjunction with some of the world’s leading electrical engineers. To clean the car in an instant, the driver simply has to press a button on the key fob while outside the vehicle, without any danger of getting wet or dousing the neighbours’ pets.

The team behind the self-cleaning technology recognise that Subaru drivers are active people who lead active lives and they don’t have to waste their time washing their car at the weekend.

It is with this in mind that the team has been dedicated to developing the technology to make their customer’s lives that little bit easier.

Professor Ai Lai, who led the team, reveals: “Nanogenerators convert mechanical energy available in the environment into electrical energy, activating safe low-voltage electrical currents on the car’s outer body surface.

“These currents flow in precise, overlapping patterns to disturb and dissolve micro-attachments on the car’s metalwork, such as dirt and dust.”

A dream solution for every motorist’s wish list, AF self-cleaning becomes available in the UK Sunday April 1st.

To find out more about the XV’s new innovative feature, visit www.subaru.co.uk/selfclean from 00.01am 1st April.

But sometimes the best way to make a point, is to ‘get to the point’, so without further ado, here are two videos which do just that. The first from Mercedes, whilst the second is less of an ad and more of a product demo of Audi’s newest lighting innovation.

Mercedes Invisible A-Class

Last year Mercedes took three F-CELL B-Class vehicles for a 125 day journey around the world, and on the back of their success decided to begin production of this unique powerplant from 2014.

“But how do you promote the most innovative drive technology in the world?”

That’s the question posed by Mercedes in its latest video, produced to communicate the virtues of their (F-CELL) hydrogen fuel cell technology and help the public associate the technology with something meaningful in their lives.

Instead of placing it squarely in front of everyone and explaining its virtues, the company decided to make the car invisible. Placing a series of LED mats across one side of the vehicle, the Mercedes engineers mounted a video-shooting Canon 5D Mark II digital SLR camera on the other side, recording an image of the background displaced by the silhouette of the car.

Even without it being a perfect disguise, it was sufficiently cloaked for observers to notice its near invisibility.

The 90-second spot ends with the most compelling of message, “Invisible to the environment. F-CELL with 0.0 emissions.”

Seems like a cool stunt and a good way of illustrating the minimal impact on the environment of Mercedes’ F-CELL technology. With nearly 2.5 million views in less than 3 days, it’s proving to be a successful tool for promoting awareness.

However, with a silent engine and near invisible exterior, we assume they didn’t drive the car around too long, otherwise I could imagine some very creative insurance claim forms for when the inevitable happened.

Audi OLED light display

If you’re one of those people who find Audi’s colgate-white Daytime Running Lights r-e-a-l-l-y annoying, then the following video might not bring a smile to your face.

OLEDs are a form of light-emitting diode (LED), which have been around since those Casio watches back in the ’70s and are used in the instrument panels of most cars. The luminescent layer in an OLED contains a film of organic compounds rather than semiconductor crystals, and emit different coloured light in response to an electric current. Being only a few thousandths of a millimetre thick, OLEDs can be made transparent if necessary, making them useful when changing the colour of clear lenses.

The most impressive effect, seen at around 1 min 27 seconds into the video , is called ‘The Swarm’, in which the rear of the car is transformed into a large illuminated surface that reacts to every movement. It’s been compared to a swarm of fish (shouldn’t that be a school of fish?), and when the brakes are applied the ‘fish’ rush forward. The faster the car is driven, the more hectic the swarm’s movements. (what a great advertisement that would be to nearby law enforcement).

In this way the OLEDs tell the driver behind actively just what the car is doing. Audi’s Head of Lighting Electronics, Stephan Berlitz, says “It looks sensational but it’s also a definite safety feature!”

It will be a few years before we see this kind of lightshow on the road, they need to become around 5-times brighter if they are to serve as brake lights, so they’ll likely appear first as daytime running lights and side lights.

Needless to say, although I’ll do so anyway, please don’t try this at home, or if you do, don’t coming crying to us afterwards. Right, sensible statement out of the way, let’s take a look at the stunts.

Our first ad was created to promote Honda’s “In and Out” plan, which lets swap your old car for a new one. The agency, villarrosas of Barcelona uses the Parkour choreography to symbolise how ‘easy’ the changeover can be. Surprisingly the scene was filmed without any CGI or editing tricks – they really did jump into the Honda CR-V that quickly.

If you’re impressed with Honda’s new ad, then wait until you see some of the ads which provided the inspiration. They’re pretty clever, although I can’t imagine any of the brands sold more products as a result. But hey, this is advertising and advertising is the new entertainment.

Honda CR-V. Plan In & Out commercial

Honda Spain’s new TV spot called “Plan In & Out”, promotes a new scheme to help customers swap their old car for a new one.

Honda CR-V. Making Of Anuncio Plan In & Out

Watch and learn, then maybe you could try it out. Maybe not.

The inspiration

BMW. Jump for Joy. Part 2

Looking at a BMW, your heart starts jumping for Joy. But sometimes it’s not just the heart. Watch some amazing ways to take a seat in a BMW, but don’t try this at home.

NFL Fantasy Files: Laurence Maroney

Patriots RB Laurence Maroney can fit through any tight spot. You need him on your fantasy team.

Nike MVPuppets “Car Jump”

Nike presents the MVPs (Most Valuable Puppets). The roommate puppet versions of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant get competitive in this campaign for the NBA Playoffs.

Kobe Bryant jumps a speeding Aston Martin

The original viral ad for Nike, featuring Kobe Bryant leaping over an accelerating Aston Martin Vantage Roadster.

As each new Hilux is launched, the task gets harder and harder to convey just how tough and indestructible it has become – but they’ve pulled out all the stops for this latest Hilux. The 2012 model has been given a comprehensive re-style from the A-pillar forwards, with a new bonnet, radiator grille, headlamps and bumper, plus new wheel designs and new side bars and steps for the top-of-the-range Hilux Invincible.

Interior materials have been improved, CO2 emissions have been reduced (194 g/km for 2.5-litre Double Cab) and of course Toyota reckon it’s even more unbreakable than ever. It will be on sale here in the UK from October, priced at £16,090 for the entry-level Single Cab HL2 4WD 2.5-litre.

So, how unbreakable is it now? Well, Toyota’s Australian, New Zealand and South African teams have kicked off their campaigns with the following ads. They’re good, but are they as good as our all-time favourite Toyota Hilux ad (“Bugger”)? – which up until now has reigned supreme.

Take a look below and let us know what you think. We’ve also included the original Top Gear episodes to remind you why the Hilux has such an enviable reputation.

Toyota Australia – ‘Unbreakable’

Toyota New Zealand – ‘Tougher Than You Can Imagine’

Toyota South Africa – ‘Toughness Rubs Off’

Toyota New Zealand – ‘Bugger’

Made as a follow up to the beloved Barry Crump/Lloyd Scott Toyota ads, “Bugger” follows a series of farming mishaps each provoke the laconic comment — “bugger”. The role of ‘Hercules’ the dog plus the performance of the hapless farmer made for one of New Zealand’s most iconic advertisements and a symbol of Kiwi pop culture.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 120 complaints about the ad, but subsequently ruled that it was not in breach of the advertising codes and was unlikely to cause serious offence. It was originally released in August 1999.

Killing a Toyota Top Gear – BBC

Jeremy Clarkson drives a Toyota Hilux around in the hope of disproving the manufacturer’s claims about its indestructibility. He crashes the Hilux into bits of Bristol and trees, parks it in the sea and then drives it through a shed and drops a caravan on it. His final act involved parking it on a tower block before it is raised to the ground by a demolition team. Did he manage to kill the Hilux? Nope. Eventually he concedes that it might, just might, actually be indestructible.

Part 1:

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Part 3:

Let’s be absolutely clear, this wasn’t experts presenting a well thought out analysis of the car industry, it was self-righteous vigilantes treating the public’s intelligence with utter contempt.

To quote some of the Greenpeace rhetoric, “(Volkswagen)…are not as efficient as you might think. For every ‘greener’ vehicle VW sells, it shifts around 15 others which emit much more C02. Volkswagen adds a huge price mark-up for its greener vehicles – way above the cost of the technology – as it tries to cash in on your green conscience.”

Introducing the NEW Volkswagen up!

Anyone with an ounce of awareness will know that Volkswagen have been developing their new hyper-efficient city car for most of the past decade, it was first shown in 2007 as a rear-wheel-drive mid-engined concept and is intended to be built by at least three of the VW Group marques.

So it sounds like a pretty serious effort to reduce global CO2 emissions, given that most of VW’s customers live in cities.

It’s also designed from the outset as a new affordable small car range, although Volkswagen have not yet confirmed pricing of the up! It’s an entirely new design, offering maximum space on a minimal footprint (3.54 x 1.64 m) and will be launched in Europe in December.

There are three versions for different budgets and needs: take up! is the entry-level car, move up! the comfort-oriented model and high up! the top version. At the car’s market launch, there will also be two models based on the high up!: up! black and up! white.

Making its debut in the up! is a new generation of three-cylinder petrol engines, with outputs of 59 bhp and 74 bhp. Combined fuel consumption as a BlueMotion Technology version (including a Stop/Start system) is 67 mpg (59 bhp), and CO2 emissions for this version are less than 100 g/km. There are also plans for an up! with electric drive.

No doubt we could criticise VW for not making BlueMotion the standard across the range, but let’s remember VW are a commercial enterprise who ultimately can only survive by offering products which customers want to buy – they are giving customers a choice and no doubt will focus even more of their future development on BlueMotion technologies if buyers vote with their cheque books.

The same thing happened with large luxury cars – the availability of more fuel efficient 3-litre turbo diesel engines eventually made V12 and V8 models about as commonplace as the white rhino.

Efficiency without compromising safety

An important new safety technology in the up! is the optional City Emergency Braking system. It is automatically active at speeds under 18mph, and uses a laser sensor to detect the risk of an impending collision.

Depending on speed and situation, City Emergency Braking can reduce accident severity by initiating automatic brake interventions that can even avoid a crash. So far, the up! is the only vehicle in its segment to be offered with this function.

At 3.54 metres in length and 1.64 metres in width and 1.48 metres in height, the up! is one of the smallest four-seater cars. Its overall length consists of short body overhangs and a long wheelbase of 2.42 metres. Use of space in the car is exceptionally good, because of the wheelbase, which is one of the longest in the segment, combined with an engine that is mounted well forward on the front axle.

The 251-litre boot is also significantly larger than is typical in this class and when the rear seat is fully folded, cargo space is increased to 951 litres.

The most economical journey is also one that takes the most efficient route

For the first time in a Volkswagen, the maps + more system is now being offered, which is a mobile Personal Infotainment Device (PID). In the economically priced up!, this is an equally economical system that was developed to organise navigation, telephone, information and entertainment, and was designed in cooperation with Navigon, one of the world’s leading suppliers of navigation systems.

The user simply snaps the PID into place above the centre console. Unlike many other similar systems of this type, maps + more melds with the car’s network of systems more effectively: navigation, telephone and infotainment can be controlled and viewed via the maps + more touchscreen, which can also be used to view vehicle information, such as the display of the parking sensors (where fitted).

Apps specially developed for the up! also let users extend maps + more to meet their specific needs and therefore make it possible for buyers to take advantage of future traffic avoidance systems.

Volkswagen’s message to Greepeace

I suspect Volkswagen would be delighted to show Greenpeace their new efficient city car range, then perhaps the environmental lobbyists could turn their efforts towards encouraging people to buy this sub-100 g/km car and thereby help save fragile environments like the Arctic.

In fact I’m certain Volkswagen would welcome such support. Over to you Greenpeace..

Gallery

Unlike Mercedes spot for the new E-Class, the humour within Hyundai’s ad cuts a little close to the mark for TV audiences and the Hyundai Board subsequently decided not to approve it. See it for yourself and decide whether the Hyundai suits should perhaps lighten up a bit..

Mercedes-Benz E-Class: Sorry

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Commercial featuring the Grim Reaper and Brake Assistance (BAS) Safety. The commercial is entitled “Sorry”.

Hyundai Veloster: Death

The Hyundai Veloster is a remarkable car. It has one door on the left side, and 2 doors on the right. Hyundai asked the creative agency Fitzroy to create a television ad that best conveys the unique virtues of the Veloster. Since the design doesn’t have a clear feature, the team decided to use safety as the main theme.

The commercial was intended to air on Dutch television, but unfortunately the Hyundai board considered it ‘too shocking for the brand’, thankfully the internet has proven a far better medium to spread the message.

And finally..

We couldn’t close without mentioning our favourite (non-car) reaper ad, this time for the Dutch Beer Grolsch – it’s an oldie but very much a classic..