Honda: “Cog”
A chain reaction made only from the parts of a Honda Accord, filmed without computer effects.
- Brand
- Honda
- Year
- 2003
- Agency
- Wieden+Kennedy London
- Category
- Cars
A small cog rolls into a gearbox part, which tips a camshaft, which pushes a wheel, which knocks over an exhaust... For two minutes, a long chain reaction plays out across a workshop floor, built entirely from the parts of a Honda Accord. At the end, the last piece triggers the finished car to roll down a ramp, and a voice asks: "Isn't it nice when things just work?"
Created by Wieden+Kennedy London in 2003 and directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, the film was made for real, with no computer animation. The chain was so delicate that it took a very large number of takes before every part worked in one go, a story that became part of the ad's legend.
Cog is often compared with the art installation The Way Things Go by Fischli and Weiss, which uses the same kind of chain reaction. For Honda, it was the perfect metaphor for engineering: hundreds of precise parts that only make sense together.
Watch the full ad on YouTube
Could you recognise it with the logo hidden? This ad is one of 129 famous commercials in Guess the Ad.
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