Hate something, change something

Drawing inspiration from hate. That’s what Honda UK and Weiden and Kennedy hoped to achieve with an ad campaign launched in late 2004.

The premise:
Rather than introduce yet another diesel engine, a Honda engineer was inspired to break the conventional belief that diesel engines had to be noisy, dirty and lacking in pep.

The campaign:
Bring to market a campaign based on a core theme of Hate Something, Change Something. They raised the engineer, Kenichi Nagahiro, on a pedestal as inspiration to the masses that anything is possible if you hate it enough.

The creative:
Folksy, catchy song aired on radio weeks prior to the campaign launch. People actually called up radio stations requesting it. The launch included broadcast, a Web site and offline promotional giveaways.

I think this campaign lives up to the aspirations of any great work:
- Wrap a brand around a core theme.
- Identify a theme that everyone can appreciate (Hate/Change).
- Inspire and empower everyone to do something about it.
- Be infectious — spirit/theme/music.
- Have fun. Get into it.

I actually find myself humming the song and rewatching the spot just to motivate me. Plus I show it to others to motivate them, too!

I encourage you to check it out and perhaps get inspired…

• The Hate Something, Change Something Web site:
  http://www.honda.co.uk/change/
• Download and watch the :90 sec TV spot:
  http://media.honda.co.uk/campaign/change/ad.zip
• Press Release:
  http://www.honda.co.uk/news/cars/20040924.html
• The Lyrics:
  http://paultan.org/archives/2005/05/22/honda-diesel-engine-advertisement/
• Weiden & Kennedy London — The making of…
  http://www.wklondon.com/asp/download.asp?path=pdf/Making%20of%20the%20Honda%20Diesel%20ad.pdf

Like it? Hate it? Let me know what you think… Please post a comment.
-Roland

Roland Reinhart is an interactive marketing professional. His observations can be found at Chaos365.com and AdMadMan.com.

©2006 Roland Reinhart. All Rights Reserved.