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TV/Cinema/Online Film
Automotive

Silver Winner

Entrant: MullenLowe U.S., Los Angeles
Acura - "The Test"

Corporate Name of Client: Acura

Client Account Director: Tom Peyton

Client Supervisor: Leila Cesario

Client Account Manager: Kelly Lynch

Agency Senior Account Executive: Kylie Mugg

Agency Account Director: Nicole Neopolitan

Agency Account Supervisor: Courtney Calvert

SVP Director of Strategy: Tom Donavan

Agency: MullenLowe U.S., Los Agneles

Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker

Executive Creative Director: Margaret Keene

Group Creative Director: Paul Foulkes

Copywriter: Chris Ford

Agency Producer: Dustin Oliver

Production Company: The Corner Shop, Santa Monica

Director: Peter Thwaites

Executive Producer: Anna Hashmi

Producer: Jay Shapiro

Director of Photography: Joost Van Gelder

VFX Company: Electric Theatre Collective, Santa Monica

VFX Supervisor: Ryan Knowles

VFX Producer: Kate Hitchings

Editing Facility: Work Editorial, Culver City

Editor: Bill Smedley

Editorial Producers: Marlo Baird/Barbara Healy

Assistant Editor: Ben Foushée

Colour Company: Electric Theatre Collective, Santa Monica

Colourist: Aubrey Woodiwiss

Sound Design Company: 740 Sound, Los Angeles

Sound Designers: Chris Pinkston/Rob Marshall

Sound Mixers: Stephen Dickson/Larry Winer

Music Performed By: Ex Machina

Song Title: Skin


Description of the Project:
Acura engineers have a unique philosophy on automotive safety. They don’t simply design vehicles to meet government standards; they build them to be safe enough for their own families. It is this belief that shapes Acura’s approach to vehicle development and leads it to consistently deliver vehicles that exceed the industry’s safety benchmarks.
Safety, however, is a well-worn promise of luxury automakers. Many of Acura’s key competitors—such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi—had been promoting their vehicles’ safety for decades before Acura was founded. These brands have so effectively communicated safety that many consumers have come to associate tier-one luxury with safer vehicles. So despite Acura being recognized as the first and only luxury brand to win top safety ratings across its entire model line, its mid-tier price has led to mid-tier safety perceptions among consumers.
To illustrate Acura’s unique safety record and philosophy, we re-imagined a well-trodden convention of safety communications: the crash test. In “The Test,” we showcased how Acura engineers approach safety testing differently—with empathy and humanity, not just scientific rigor. Rather than demonstrate our vehicles’ capabilities, the spot shows the perspective of an Acura engineer who sees his crash test dummies as representative of his own family as he prepares a test.
Our safety communications needed to communicate Acura’s safety record as well as elevate the brand. To do this, we leveraged a common cliché to change the conversation around safety, depose competitive communications, and shift consumers’ perceptions of Acura.