Honda: “Grrr”
A cheerful animated song about hating things, made to launch Honda's first diesel engine.
- Brand
- Honda
- Year
- 2004
- Agency
- Wieden+Kennedy London
- Category
- Cars
Rabbits, birds and flowers bounce through a bright cartoon landscape while a gentle voice sings "Hate something, change something, make something better". The villains are noisy, smoky old diesel engines, which the animals happily pop like balloons. Only at the end do we learn what it is about: Honda's new, quieter diesel engine.
Honda had long refused to make diesel engines because its engineers disliked how loud and dirty they were. Instead of hiding that, the 2004 ad by Wieden+Kennedy London turned it into the story: they hated diesel so much that they built a better one. The song is narrated by American storyteller Garrison Keillor.
Grrr won many of the advertising world's biggest awards and is a good example of "positive hate": taking a negative feeling and making it charming. It also proves that animation can sell something as technical as an engine.
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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