I had a link to this on my site a few years ago but that was back in the Paleolithic Era, long before the days of video clip embedding. In any case, if you've seen it, you won't mind seeing it again. And again and again. What we have for you today is only, I think, the most amazing commercial ever done. It's entitled "Cog," it's for the Honda Accord, it runs two minutes and what follows are the other bullet points you need to know about it…
- It is real. That is, what you're about to see was actually created in a studio and not in a CGI program. They actually set this up and did it without special effects.
- Reported total cost: Six million dollars. The spot ran mostly on British television, which is why it was able to be two minutes long. They have those there.
- It took 3-6 months to set up (accounts vary) and it was shot over a round-the-clock four-day shooting schedule in a Paris studio. The initial press releases said it required 606 takes but that number has been disputed.
- Because the studio in Paris was not large enough to house the whole thing, the commercial was shot in two parts. The edit point, which is just about impossible to spot, comes around the one minute mark. So it's two continuous takes butted together, which only detracts a wee bit from the achievement.
- Two new Hondas were disassembled to get the parts. At the time they made this, the model they were promoting had yet to hit the assembly lines so the ones they cannibalized were new, made-by-hand prototypes.
- And lastly, that's the voice of Garrison Keillor at the end, I'm told. Doesn't sound like him to me but that's who they say it is.
So now you can go ahead and watch it. Somewhere, the ghost of Rube Goldberg is either smiling or demanding royalties.
