The Story Behind One of the Most Complicated Ads in History | Cogs
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- Опубликовано: 9 дек 2023
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It was the best thing on the box and, in 2003, completely redefined what an ad could be. This is the story behind Honda's "Cog".
Couple of notes:
-IKEA's "LAMP" was directed by Spike Jonze, not Spike Lee.
-Weiden + Kennedy were accused of plagiarism by filmmaking duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss who had created a very similar concept in their art house film "Der Lauf der Dinge/The Way Things Go" 18 years prior. Cog does share similars with the film, including the use of weighted tyres but, despite W + D admitting to gaining inspiration from Der Lauf der Dinge, Fischli and Weiss ultimately chose not to sue.
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Развлечения
Nostalgia made me make this, so let me know if you have any memorable childhood ads of your own :)
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Merry Christmas!! I'll see you next year
Tooheys Extra dry beer - Tongue's Quest.
“The Big ad” (Carlton draught) & “Not Happy Jan” are the two that always come to mind.
And well… this ad. I hadn’t seen it for a long time. Brought back memories!
The 2007 Audi R8 commercial: "The slowest car ever built". A beautiful timelapse of the car's production with Simone White's "beep beep song" in the background. I remember watching it with my dad over and over again!
@@Realsagarbhat Oh man, I had completely forgotten about that one... Iconic, but also creepy as hell.
@@spmryan VE-RY BIG AD
I miss adverts like this. Quiet. Not just a car in an empty city. Not just some attractive man or woman, talking utter nonsense, trying to sell you perfume.
Ah the synergy of design and elegance...
They gently tugged at your attention, instead of full force yanking it.
The sad thing is I've never seen an Accord wagon
They are just as common now as they were back then, doesn't mean I don't wish they could come more often
Of fucking course you miss them, they sell you absolutely fucking nothing. Its just like those “I wish YOU were my teacher!!!” People on youtube
No shit you wish they were your teacher. They teach you basically nothing and only show an explosion or something with an extremely basic description
I was in primary school when this ad was on TV. I remember my dad reading in the Herald Sun that there would be an incredible ad on TV at whatever time it was set to air and it's the only time I remember sitting there, waiting for the ad break.
At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. We taped it and I kept watching it over and over.
In the age of trick shots and Rube Goldberg machines, it's probably less impressive. But it felt like that was an age where a business paid for 30 seconds and told you the features of their car. This was a business that paid for 120 seconds to delight us.
That’s so cool!
Nice fiction 😂
@@TiffMcGiff Nope, just a fun old memory. Though, I could have sworn the Australian version had an Australian accent at the end. And for some reason my brain says it was around 8pm or 8:30. But if it was during the Brazilian Grand Prix, that would put it between 4 and 6 AM in Australia. My guess is that we probably saw it the next day
I did work at The Mill at the time, while I as leading another project the team next door were working on Honda "Cog" and it was obvious from the start this was one of those rare occasions where agency, client, production, director and everyone else brings their magic and creativity to the max. True poetry in motion.
One of the things I love about the ad is that it manages to communicate the quality of the car's construction through the way the parts look, sound, and move. Things sound crisp, weighty, resonant. They move smoothly, confidently (with the exception of the wipers waddling across the floor). The parts look heavy, shiny, polished.
The minimalistic, understated presentation communicates that "this is an ad, and a car, for thoughtful people. Smart people. Like you."
From one of the initial test clips you showed at 5:33, I can imagine someone commenting, "I'm not sure we want the product associated with constant sparking and flames..."
Claim to fame, I was in the ITV control room when it played out. I vividly remember the GP as we lost comms to Brazil because the OB was hit by lightening. I'd forgotten it was the first showing of this advert, but I remember all of us wondering what the hell was this 90-second commercial taking up the entire break.
That’s awesome. That GP was pure chaos.
Those were the days. Doritos did a Mexican standoff one that lasted a whole break that went out late-night. Very cool clout that companies had back then.
I saw this first in the cinema, everyone was chatting and paying no attention, and within seconds silence fell on the whole audience and all were transfixed. Huge cheer when the machine finished.
I remember seeing it in cinema too.... in Estonia if anyone’s curious.
It would have been done with CGI nowadays. I actually thought it was CGI back when I saw it in mid 2000s. To learn they actually filmed it for real completely blew my mind. It's probably one of the craziest most creative ads ever done yet it's so tranquil and calm. An absolute masterpiece.
Wow, forgot about that, just looked and still got my Cog DVD sitting in a drawer!!! Ordered as a 16 year old after seeing the 30 second version of the ad on TV and being told by a friend that it was possible to get the full version on DVD. I must have watched it a lot of times. Thanks for making this video and reminding me of the existence.
I've got one somewhere...
10:52 the ad may have only aired in three markets officially but thanks to the internet in the 2000s the full ad was ripped and converted into an SWF and uploaded to many websites that host Flash games and content before RUclips was widely adopted as the video distribution platform of choice so its possible someone's mom or dad who never set foot to any of these territories might have seen it from places like ebaumsworld or Y8. i still have my copy from 2008 which i fetched from a long-gone site in my home server.
EDIT: Wieden + Kennedy would be hired by Liberty Media more than a decade later to take charge of creating Formula 1's new brand package after the media giant acquired the motorsport from Bernie Ecclestone.
Indeed, I was studying graphic design back then and the Academy had one of the first continuous internet connections in the country. This was widely shared among students and staff, becoming one of the first viral videos I can remember.
yep. I saw it in Canada when i was starting high school. I had actually downloaded it and had in on my computer and I would watch it over and over in amazement.
@ where were you? I had direct high speed cable internet to my house by ‘95. A blistering 1Mbps up and down.
I made low budget music videos and ads and had a client ask to make something like this in 2004. For $20k. I told him we could roll a few tires down a ramp for that. “But what about 3D”? I’ll just call ILM and see what they say….
Now you could probably make it for close to that.
That's where I recognized it from! Good ol' Flash days!
Yeah, this was widely seen in the US, not just on the Internet, but in news broadcasts and on talk shows. It got a lot of what they call "earned media."
My mum and dad bought an Accord Euro of around this era here in Australia, and on delivery we actually got given a miniDVD with not only the ad, but the making of as well. Such a fascinating watch as a ~10 year old
Humans will love Rube Goldberg machines till the end of time. They're THAT cool. As an advertising student who's about to start working in the industry soon I hope one day I get to make an ad of this quality and passion.
To this day this is my No.1 Ad I've ever watched. Surprisingly enough, I saw it for the first time in the half time break during the final of the Champions league in Polish television TVP and it was one and only truly mesmerising experience while watching the ADVERT!! Thank you very much for bringing back this memory and a ton of extra knowledge about it.
I recommend watching "big ad" it's a beer commercial.
The thing that blows me away is that they did all of that insane stuff to pull it off, and still managed to include some of the car's advertised features throughout as part of the machine.
Just, wow.
I’m so happy this popped up in my thread. Subscribed! I’ve worked in this field since the early 90s - here in Australia and the UK. Today a lot of the jobs don’t even exist anymore, replaced by effects artists and AI. This ad today would be able to be created for the coffee budget of the original team. And completed in days instead of months, by one or two people instead of a team. From this you see a different type of craft, passion, commitment and dedication. Nice find and thanks for sharing.
It’s a shame really. CGI always seems to lack something compared to practical effects. Maybe it’s just confirmation bias, but I feel like practical effects are just better. Money-wise though, I can see why they’d prefer to do it with CGI.
Really well put together video as usual -- a small correction: (13:03) Spike Jonze (Her, Being John Malkovich) directed the Lamp IKEA ad, not Spike Lee.
Ah bugga - thank you for letting me know :)
@@paul_et cheers
I remember this ad, I remember all of the discussion about it at the time, how many times I rewatched it etc. What I didn't remember was the specific Honda car they were advertising, so imagine my surprised watching the first few minutes of this video, and seeing the car roll down the ramp, and its the same car I have in my driveway right now!
I love this car, I've had two of them. The later one had 415000 km. on it when I traded it a few months ago.
This ad never aired in my country. I watched it because it was emailed to me as an "extremely awesome video", and I have never forgotten it. As soon as the cogs started rolling, my brain went "oh! this is that cool honda ad." What a masterpiece!
The way you explain things is so good! respect for spending so much time on videos. You inspire me to get into the film business
It doesn't matter how much BTS footage I watch, for some reason my brain just immediately says "That's cgi" and I don't know why. Is it the frame rate, or the unnaturally smooth lighting, lack of surface imperfections, or that some of the objects move unexpectedly (tires uphill, walking wipers etc)
Goes to say how realistic CGI has become to the point it's hard to tell the difference, most times you only have your gut feel.
There's a fundamental in Visual Effects, "Digital Imperfection" is Perfection. That's why CGI's that are "too clean" looks fake.
So when something done in real and it's "too clean" our brain just points to "yep, that's CGI". Suffering in success I guess.
+not seeing shadows where you expect to see them
+the objects' movements look like a "perfect" physics simulation
+the camera moves like if there was no physical restriction / like freely moving in a 3D world
+everything is shiny like in an RTX or blender demo
+the room itself is incredibly bland, which nowadays might be associated with someone spending effort on a specific part of a demo, and not putting any effort in the background
Those speakers have to be cgi.
@@battlebong869 Yeah i was gonna say, they don't look legit at all
I went into advertising the very same year this ad was released and even marketing people didn't believe it was real. I always found the upwards rolling wheels weird.
Oh man, you just unearthed a hidden memory for me LOL, I remember being utterly transfixed by this ad, and being hooked on watching these Rube Goldberg machines on RUclips in the early 2000's. Thanks for the trip.
I don’t know if this has been pointed out, but there’s a 1987 art film called ‘The Way Things Go’ by Peter Fischli and David Weiss, which is remarkably similar to the Honda ad.
I’d be amazed if it wasn’t an inspiration, as the format of the film as a long linear take is almost exactly the same.
Not to discredit what they did with the Honda ad, which is amazing in its own right.
It even featured the uphill rolling trick of Fischli and Weiss. I'm fairly certain,it is heavily inspired by them. ;)
F+W had a problem back in the day, their hall was to short, so they had to use "hidden" cut's. Oh, wait.. :P
@@CiszHelionok thanks, it was a while ago I heard about the fact. There is even a bit about this on Wikipedia:
In May 2003, Fischli and Weiss threatened legal action against Honda over similarities between the Cog commercial and The Way Things Go.
The artists felt that the ad's creators had "obviously seen" their film and should have consulted them. Fischli and Weiss had refused several requests to use the film for commercial purposes, though Honda claimed that this was irrelevant as their permission was not needed to create new works with some elements similar to their previous works.
Honda's advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy eventually admitted to copying a sequence of weighted tires rolling uphill.
The controversy was blamed for denying Cog a Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.[5]
@@btn237 Good find. :D
Never seen this ad (I don't live in UK/Aus/Ireland) nor even heard of it. Thanks for putting it here! I love the nostalgia of good quality car ads + the creativity!
Having been one of those people staring at the screen during the f1, wondering what I just saw - I spoke with a producer of cog, and he told me apparently the need for two car versions was one of the reasons why they split the ad in the middle
Your work deserves to be seen by everyone ever. I strive for your natural charisma
I used to watch this ad on loop when I was a child, because I had an admiration for how everything was layed out and all interacting with each other. I'm so glad you did a video on this, because I've been wanting to know how they did it for years.
I used to work in recycling and found one of those DVDs that someone had thrown out along with an awful lot of rubbish. Absolutely made sure to rescue it, but where it is now I couldn't say for sure (which may mean I probably did the same thing and eventually sent it for recycling myself). I remember discussing the advert at school, for some media studies related reason no doubt, and then close to a decade later finding out (whilst in the middle of a pile of rubbish) that there was an entire DVD for an advert - a memorable advert, certainly, but surely 'just an advert'...
I just watched a video, about an ad, about a DVD that was about the ad, that was about how the ad was made/shot, but yet it was also all about the ad all along.
And I enjoyed every second of it. I must have watched 'Cog' at least 70 times when it came out online. I'll go and watch it again here in a second.
Absolutely loved your documentary and tribute to Cog. Your script and delivery had great timing and emulated the quiet, composed, respectful atmosphere evoked by the subject.
Also wanted to recognise the research and preparation you did for this, and its contribution to the production. Brilliant work!
I've always love well-crafted commercials, as well as Rube Goldberg machines, so naturally this was one of my favorites. ❤
I live in Ireland and I remember seeing this ad here on TV and being amazed by it. I saw the short version a fair few times but it was a real bonus to see the full version.
The ASMR aspect is great, the sounds are very calming. And ASMR as a genre didn’t even exist back then.
Great video, sir! This is one of my most favorite ads ever! They may not have played it on television in the US but we (car people) were definitely aware of it back in the day.
I definitely miss the days when a company would pay for an epic ad such as this.
At the time of its release I was living in Los Angeles with my then gf who had just finished her fine arts degree from USC. I remember how mesmerized we were by this ad and how so many of the film students were amazed by it to. I've watched the fill ad hundreds of times. Had it saved on my computer for years. A phenomenal amount of work to get that without digital effects!
There hasn't been a moment in time before, or since, where I was excited to see an advertisment on the telly. 20 years later, I still remember Cogs fondly.
Great video (subscribed!)….I didn’t scroll through all the comments so apologies if this is a repeat but the reason they did not win at Cannes is that the ad company admitted to cribbing from _The Way Things Go_ the Fischli and Weiss 29 minutes (!!!) art piece…specifically the tires rolling up the ramp sequence
I definitely remember seeing the whole version in Australia. For some reason it was the wind windows I remember the most. Great video
Thanks for making this. It’s fun to think there was so much enjoyment that came from this commercial. Wish we could have more.
I saw this ad right around when I first found RUclips; I was in Elementary school.
Now I'm in college studying computer engineering! Crazy to think about how time flies
Love the research and work you put into your videos. I'm subscribed to 400 something channels at this point but there's only couple I actually get excited about when I see they've uploaded something.
You’ve done it again! Lovely video from start to finish
I had never even heard about this advertisement before. Thanks for making the world a better place by sharing it with us all! 😊
This is a masterpiece, not just an Ad
I wasn’t around when this aired on tv nor do I live in the right region to watch this, but somehow in the back of my mind I remember my dad showing this to me on facebook when i was around five or six and it was the best thing I had ever seen.
Thank you for making videos like this! THE ENDING WAS REAL SPECIAL
i just complained about losing 9 minutes before on some other no face channel but Paul... I love what you made here. concise to the point and great editing and story telling! New Subscriber!
Another great video, Paul. Always excited when you upload.
:)
Always looking forward to get a notification that Paul has uploaded a new video, Love your work!
Incredible work as always, thanks for introducing me to this Paul!
Also, cool to know you are an F1 enthusiast
The editing and music in this video is stunning
How can this video be called "The story behind..." and not mention Fischli/Weiss. It literally was my first thought when I saw the advert back in the day, in all the details down to the left to right setup.
Honestly I always was convinced that this was a very openly tongue-in-cheeck nod to the (back then) quite famous art piece - just with car parts which was the whole pun of the ad.
And yes of course every professional in advertising knew and loved the Fischli/Weiss piece at the time. So this was not even an attempt to conceal the fact, it was the whole point.
This is an ad that was instantly a classic. I've shown it to countless people. And luckily I got to share it with my wife tonight. Thank you for the deep dive! I was aware there was a hidden cut, but I was not sure where it occurred.
Man, I love your stuff. Especially because I never know what the next thing will be, but I'll watch it
insanely under-rated channel, keep up the great work man!
i'm a young australian and fondly remember this ad! i don't think i would have seen it aired on tv, but i assume it created enough of a buzz that someone showed me a copy hosted on the internet. super cool breakdown, and from you a top notch video overall, as usual :D
One of my favorite ad campaigns was the “White Gold is White Gold” series that culminated into the 22 minute online movie, “Battle for Milkquarius”.
So good and hilarious.
Before clicking on this video I was almost certain the ad would be a Rube Goldberg machine. I totally forgot about this ad but it's a masterpiece.
It's impressive that you got me to watch this whole video (except skipping the Nord VPN bit), because I usually avoid ads at all costs
really like this kind of content, keep it up man.
I remember watching this as a kid and getting my mind absolutely blown that I immediately tried to show it to everybody I know especially my parents haha
The only thing that always confused the hell out of me was the tires rolling up the ramp. I remmember being like, "That's not how physics work!" Only to find that it can be done with a weight placed inside the tire that is heavy enough to overcome the incline. Genius! That being said this is hands down the finest commercial ever made.
I'm Swedish, and I remember this SO well. It's like a core memory you just opened up for me! I remember; Me, 13-ish old, on the sofa with my dad, both of us *completely* mesmerized and silent the whole time. Thank you for doing this video! It was an amazing one!
This was MAGNIFICENTLY entertaining and interesting. Great work. 🙌🙌
It was in the same bucket for me as the series of Sony Bravia ads, one with a clown / exploding paint and the other with some colourful balls bouncing down a street in San Fran. Beautifully done
One of my favourite channels by now I reckon.
such a good video!
I love the scanline effects you use. Good job on fine tuning it enough to not get completely botched by youtube's compression.
Nice work, Paul
I was just talking with my other half last week about how these types of creative adds are a thing of the past since we aren’t focused on watching live tv so much anymore. We were talking about how good some of those late 1990’s early 2000’s adds were.
Have you (or has anyone else) archived that DVD? Because that's something that ABSOLUTELY should be archived in its original form.
Here in the UK i remember every time the ad came on everyone would stop to watch it then carry on with whatever they were doing, it was more entertainment than it was an advert.
Such a high quality and generally awesome video. Just like all of yours
Honda had good commercials. My favorite was when you saw a line of white and black cars just going up and down while "As Time Goes By" is played on the piano. The camera pans back, and you realize the cars are moving as the piano keys playing that song would.
I don't think it got the attention "Cog" did, but it was simple and beautiful.
I remember having lunch in like 2012 and my brothers were watching RUclips videos, we were particularly interested in Rube Goldberg Machines, then eventually we came across this ad,
it is strange that I wasn't even alive during the Airing of this ad, but I still have nostalgia for this ad. I haven't seen the ad in a while now, but thanks to you I will save this in my nostalgia playlist.
Thank You!
I knew it was the Honda ad. It’s still breathtaking.
My dad and I love Hondas. I still mourn my Aerodeck (passed down from dad) that had over 270,000 miles on the clock and mainly failed its MOT due its underside corroding (we had lived near the coast and it wasn’t garaged). I wish I’d spent tons of money fixing it because I’ve never had a better, more reliable, useful, powerful car before or since. RIP PYM 😢
Clever central ad.
Very nostalgia approved.
I remember seeing "Cog" years ago. What a mind blowing leap forward it was in creativity.
There was a website I now forget, devoted to advertisers; lots of ads were available there--including some great ones like this one.
After a while the website converted to a subscription model, requiring a sign-in to view most of its content. This greatly annoyed my coworkers and me, because we weren't interested in the ins and outs of advertisement--we merely wanted to periodically waste an hour browsing funny commercials.
Love this piece mate! I remember it taking over my imagination as a bright eyed 11 year old. I've always wanted to see what the vertical speakers shot looked like in the raw footage.
Imagine me watching this thinking "I remember that ad but who would order the DVD of it?" only for you to open the package of that yellow and pink case and it hit me that _I ordered that DVD_. You just unlocked a distant memory. I loved that ad for its simple complexity and loved finding out how it was done.
Never seen this ad, but it is truly epic! Thanks for the insight
always a good day when paul uploads
Welcome to no nonsense RUclips channel. Thanks for all your hardwork Paul
beautiful breakdown!
Thank you for sharing with us such an amazing and rare gem from the lesser discovered world of TV ad production!! I had no clue such masterpiece even existed!!
You tell such a good story. Thanks!
Everything being on a line in the floor and the parts all being disconnected and bumping into each other reminds me of Peter Fischeli and David Weiss' 1987 "The Way Things Go"
Its almost half an hour long so if you enjoy this I highly recommend it
And their major uncredited inspiration: _The Way Things Go_ from Peter Fischli and David Weiss.
Great work. Thankyou.
Always loved the ''even apeldoorn bellen'' ads in NL
I still vividly remember seeing cog for the first time during that grand prix, i was on the phone to my brother at the time and slowly realised neither of us had said anything for 30 seconds or so:
"er, are you watching the grand prix?..."
"Yeah..."
"are you seeing this too?.."
"Yeah....."
"I don't know what they're selling but god damn it I'm in"
Our dad had the DVD too, i think in the UK they gave it away free with the Observer newspaper one weekend
I came across this ad several times on youtube and never thought it was shot in real life.
It's one of the few real life videos that look like CG.
Best and most surprising intro to the sponsor I have ever seen. I 😂 so much. That "surfer"... Thanks!
Speakers vibrate to music that way at 1:59 in real life, I'm convinced. 😏
I remember that ad, I watched it for the first time in the cafeteria of my university where I was studying electrical engineering, it was all over the internet at the time... the pre-RUclips and pre-Facebook era so it was a video file shared via email.
LOVED this. Thanks so much!
I think I saw the full uncut ad on TV, although I might just be piecing together different memories of separate 30 second cuts of each part of it. But I'd definitely remembered each part.
There's something about seeing something so surreal and just letting the moment take you, even if it is trying to sell me something.
Exquisite storytelling, thank you.
Loved this ad i remember watching it on TV back in AU, it was amazing. Its really great that you have been able to preserve that DVD, you should consider reaching out to Honda to see if they would like to make a copy of it for their archives, as its entirely possible that they also dont have a copy. As someone who loves cars, and now works in advertising, it is a shame how so many of these great pieces of creatives were lost. I was lucky to get to be apart of some amazing campaigns for Range Rover that featured jaw dropping stunts, but the simplicity and clarity of the message in cog is amazing.
Also its no surprise it didnt win Cannes, nobody from the automotive industry every wins at Cannes!
I'd never made the connection before, but I bet this was the main inspiration behind OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" video.
I remember this ad..!
Always assumed it was some early CGI..! 😊
The Honda adverts with the chilled voiceover actor are my favourites
this ad was so good, i had it on a DVD. not sure where i got that DVD from. Interesting to learn how the tyres worked - i always thought that was the bit that was faked. great video.
oh, you answered it! cool!
This my favourite advert ever, …… but I couldn’t remember which car company it was from! 😂