Hasta La Creative!

The Detroit offices of Leo Burnett and DigitasLBi (which joined forces to form Engage M-1 earlier this summer) launched a campaign for GMC introducing “The Next Generation of SUV” with a 30-second spot promoting the 2017 GMC Acadia.

The spot opens on a orchestra playing the intro to “Eminence Front,” The Who’s “classic” song from well-past-their-prime 1982 album “It’s Hard.” A voiceover says, “There are conductors and then there are maestros” as the scene shifts back and forth between the orchestra and a GMC Acadia driving into the city. A maestro, it continues, “leads with confidence, exactness, inspiration” — unlike a mere conductor.

At GMC, the voiceover adds, they are “in tune with that degree of precision.”

Apart from the poor song selection — beyond overlooking any number of actual classic songs they could have used, “Eminence Front” has been described by Pete Townshend as being “about what happens when you take too much white powder,” probably not the best choice for a car commercial — the spot is somewhat obvious in its messaging.

The 73 musicians in the spot were led by Kazem Abdullah, “an American-born conductor who serves as General Music Director of the city of Aachen, Germany.” Music house Mophonics were behind the special orchestration of the song, which was performed and recorded live. 

“None of the musicians had met before, but after a couple practice sessions, they sounded like they had been playing together for years,” said Bully Pictures director Sebastian Weiland, who directed the spot. “It was an amazing experience.”

“We use very clean shots throughout,” Weiland added. “It was important to me that we built the story. Near the end, we transition from inside the cabin of the car to a wide shot of the audience giving the orchestra a standing ovation. That leads to our hero moment, as we reveal the car in all its beauty and glory.”

Credits:

Agencies: Leo Burnett, Detroit: Steve Chavez, Chief Creative Officer; Erik Zaar, Executive Producer.
Digitas: Patrick McHugh, Group Creative Director; Bill Woodard, Senior Copywriter; Jason Talbot, Senior Art Director.
Production: Bully Pictures: Sebastian Weiland, Director/Director of Photography; Jason Forest, Executive Producer; Gianfilippo Pedrotti, Executive Producer.
Edit: Butcher Editorial: David Henegar, Editor; Rob Van, Executive Producer.
Music: Mophonics, Kris Roggemann, Executive Producer.