Great Commercials--SsangYong Rodius
We recently had our fun mocking the bizarre looks of the SsangYong Odious--er, I mean Hideous--no, no, I mean Rodius!--a Korean-built SUV whose ah, challenging styling almost makes the Aztek look normal. That posting included a surreal Korean TV commercial in which the very oceans themselves rage against it.
That's not the only Rodius commercial to appear on Korean television. In the course of writing that article, I watched the others, and some of them are--you won't believe this, but it's true!--they're quite good.
I'm not being ironic. The commercials are very good. The car is hideous, but the commercials do an admirable job of making it look ... dare I say it? ... not just normal but ... almost (but not quite) ... desirable.
Don't believe me? Keep reading.
The first one appears to have been shot somewhere in North America, with an American-looking cast. (I'm not sure how common it is for commercials in Korea to use non-Korean actors; if anyone can speak to this point, please leave a comment below.) It shows the Rodius transporting a string quartet to the beach for an afternoon recital on the sand next to a Christo-wannabee environmental art installation. The music is something light and happy and a little Beatlesque that I don't recognize.
The commercial emphasizes the Rodius' large interior and obvious utility. The camera is careful to show it mostly from the front quarter, with just a few side shots--and in half of those, the rear end just "happens" to fall outside of the frame. The only time we see the Rodius from the rear quarter while it's standing still, there's a conveniently-placed bit of windblown fabric from the Christo sculpture which keeps us from getting a clean look at the visually disturbing rear end styling.
The second commercial uses one of my favorite pieces of music, the catchy "hit single" from the wonderful Tom Hanks film That Thing You Do!
I don't know about you, but I think this one's just eleven kinds of cool. Again we have an emphasis on utility, with the Rodius driving through a busy person's appointment book. I like how the the various little film clips are composited into the book, showing how the Rodius comes in handy for all occasions. Once again, we carefully avoid looking at it from the rear quarter as much as possible.
Whatever production company made these commercials, I salute your talent. If you can make an uglymobile like the Rodius look this good, you may have a real business opportunity with Chrysler and Honda. Give 'em a call right now. The Dodge Caliber and Accord Crosstour need all the help they can get.
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
Chris Hafner on January 28, 2010 at 08:30 AM
This is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I ... um, *ahem* ... actually find the Caliber and the Accord Crosstour somewhat visually appealing. Yes, I know, I admit this to my shame.
I wouldn't buy a Caliber, mind you, but I don't hate the way it looks. And I actually think the Accord Crosstour is rather fetching, at least from the controversial rear 3/4 angle. Based on my known predilections, this shouldn't be overly surprising.
Joe Clancy on January 28, 2010 at 11:22 AM
Second ad was shot partly on the elevated portion of the Melbourne CityLink freeway - and yes it does look good!
Cookie the Dog's Owner on January 28, 2010 at 12:10 PM
Joe, thanks for pointing that out. I wonder if the first ad was shot in Australia. I'd assumed North America because the car in the commercial has left-hand drive and is shown driving on the right half of the street, but Australia would make more sense for a filming location because they actually sell the car there.
Chris Mallow on January 28, 2010 at 08:24 PM
I'm with Chris...I also find the Crosstour strangely attractive. I've been considering something along this line for a while...but then again, I was shephered around in my mom's '83 VW Scirocco 5-speed and thought that was a cool car (in fact, Mom wanted Dad to keep it for my first car...but alas, it wasn't to be.) I love the look of the 80s sporty-ish hatchbacks like the Scirocco, Dodge Daytona, Mustang hatchbacks, Honda CRX, and Toyota Celica, and to me, the Crosstour evokes that look a little. Granted, it has a little more junk in the trunk than those other models, but it's a similar look (to me, anyway). In fact, when I first saw a commercial for the Crosstour, my first thought was, "hey, that actually looks cool!" So sue me. :-)
Oh, those commercials ARE great...sometimes, ad people really do an excellent job in their work. This is definitely a fine example.
Steve Taylor on February 01, 2010 at 02:53 AM
Looks like the first ad has a brief snippet driving across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, then a shot of it underneath it.