Saatchis blows up car and then rebuilds it for safety's sake

Everybody loves to blow stuff up.

Particularly the folk at Saatchi & Saatchi.

The ad people at the big S have formed a new pro bono campaign for the Rodney District Council’s road safety division, soon to feature in a TVC.

The idea is that two cars colliding head-on at 120kph has the same impact as 10 grenades detonating simultaneously inside one of the cars.

Scary, eh? Now I know you Ad Hoclings never do anything like 120kph, as you are eminently responsible and would never speed, let alone think about having more drinkypoos than your 1 alcoholic unit a day, but this gimmick is delightfully demented.

Saatchis found a car, put 10 grenades inside it – with the help of a professional bomb expert (now there’s a job they didn’t tell you about at high school careers expo, huh?) – and blew it to pieces in a paddock outside Helensville (pics below and video – yes, video! – here).

But wait, there’s more – and it’s not a set of steak knives.

They then meticulously collected every piece and spent five days in a Silverdale warehouse reassembling the car with each piece in the position it took just a microsecond after the explosion.

Not only did this take ages, Silverdale has no decent cafes to get a latte, so it really was quite the trial. Sigh.

And the finished effect is there this weekend for punters to have a gander at.
Rodney District Council communications advisor Mike Isle said the visual effect is stunning.

The public will only have this weekend to view the car, as it’ll be dismantled on Monday. (Viewing details below.)

Saatchis account director James Polhill said the idea was in production for three months and the install has taken many late nights with each part being hung piece by piece, glass shatter by glass shatter, and crafted to perfection.

“Our key message is simply getting drivers to slow down within the district by using a unique and not that I know of, never done idea before, to demonstrate the power of a head on crash visually,” Mr Polhill said.

As someone who grew up nearly getting run over in the Rodney District on a daily basis and once took a sledgehammer to a Mini for fun, personally I think it’s a fabulous idea.

The creative team on the job are Matt Swinburne and Mike Felix, with Luke Chess and Mike O’Sullivan, and Mr Polhill suiting the project.

You can have a nosey parker at the smashing car on Saturday and Sunday this weekend (April 25/26) from 10am til 2pm at unit 3, 70 Forge Road, Silverdale. 

You’ll see a mobile installation of the car mid-explosion that’s been reconstructed from the debris (complete with ironic “OK” number plate). It is intended to demonstrate the sheer force involved in a high-speed collision and show drivers how dangerous driving over the speed limit can be.

We recommend Kaizen café in Orewa for your morning constitution.

Voila – the concept (note the ironic "OK" number plate – trust us, it's there):

The car bonnet goes skywards. They never told you advertising was THIS much fun!

Mr Bomb Expert Man busy at work, giving that car a one-way ticket to Harp Land. This wasn't on the list of Approved Careers at high school, was it now? Noooooo.

The munted car post-explosion. Would that make you slow down, Hoclings? Hmmroo? Blow up something in your office today.