Cadbury unveils successor to 'gorilla' spot

The 90-second spot was shot over six nights at an airport in Mexico. It

consists of an elaborate 800-metre race, shot on a runway and lit by 200
blue sidelights, where numerous coloured trucks come to life and compete
against each other.

In the ad, a small unassuming one-man vehicle plays the underdog that
battles against other engines, including baggage transporters, lorries
and motorised stairs.

Two 35mm film cameras, two high-definition cameras and a crash-camera
were used to give the footage a fluid sense of motion.

The trucks, selected from airports across Mexico, were "pimped" to
assume different characteristics. The modifications took three weeks and
involved processes including sandblasting, paint jobs, engine rebuilds,
structural work, replacing wheel hubs, new tyres, changing lights and
refitting interiors.

Phil Rumbol, Cadbury's marketing director, said: "We recognised that
'gorilla' had an enigmatic, almost random element to it that audiences
had responded to, and had generated masses of debate online. That was
something we wanted to make even more explicit in this next film.

"It's like saying: 'Don't tell people you're funny; tell them the joke.'
This campaign is the antithesis of the hard sell and is about delivering
joy there and then."

Rumbol said "Glass and a Half Full Productions" would be a long-running
campaign that could "broaden into different genres of entertainment
beyond film".

"What we are focused on is the response. The key question we ask is:
'Will people see this and have a moment of unmistakeable joy?' That is
the acid test."

The ad was produced by Blink and involved 140 cast members.

- Perspective, page 19.