Several folks have written to ask me about the Honda commercial I linked to this morn, specifically about the part where the tires roll uphill. Back when this spot first materialized, I read a number of articles about it, few of which seem to still be online. My recollection is that while there was no camera trickery involved and while all the action actually occurred in the studio, there were gimmicks used within a few pieces. For example, the tires had weights embedded in them that caused them to roll the way they did. Hold on. Let me see if I can find anything online about this…
Yeah, here over at the Snopes site is this page which says, among other things, "The sequence where the tyres roll up a slope looks particularly impressive but is very simple. Steiner says that there is a weight [in each] tyre and when the tyre is knocked, the weight is displaced and in an attempt to rebalance itself, the tyre rolls up the slope." Sounds possible to me. That page may answer other questions you have about the spot.