Virtual reality. Explosions. Tanks. Michelle Rodriguez. What do these things all have in common? They’re all exciting and entertaining. So, how did the Castrol Edge advertisement make them all seem so dull?
Castrol Ice teamed up with The Fate and Furious to create a unique driving trial. In theory, it sounds awesome.
“In a world-first stunt staged in the wild, icy landscape of the Yukon in Canada, Michelle Rodriguez, one of the stars of the Fast & Furious franchise, challenges her legendary stunt driver, Debbie Evans, and Evans’ Jaguar F-TYPE 5.0 Supercharged V8 R AWD – powered with the strength of Castrol EDGE – to compete against a mixed-reality army of military tanks, nuclear submarines, helicopters, missiles, explosions and shattering ice.”
While, I’m sure Evans had a wild time driving through the course, the finished product (mixed with Rodriguez’s “I wish I was anywhere but reading this” delivery) make it seem fairly dull.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjU2a8k7l28&feature=youtu.be
The main problem for me, and it’s a common complaint among viewers watching someone else experience virtual reality, is we don’t see their exact perspective, so the course doesn’t have the same impact. The explosions and effects don’t look real through the eyes of anyone but the driver.
A two-minute version of the ad does a much better job capturing the absurdity of the situation. Although, it still comes across as a bad cut scene from a racing game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZYCseaFfU
Fate and the Furious is a balls-to-the-wall action spectacle. Unfortunately, this ad tries to capture its tone in just 30 seconds – an impossible task. However, credit to Castrol Edge and the marketers of Fate and the Furious for trying something different. I’m just not sure it succeeded.
