South Africans love their cars. There is no denying our eccentric behaviour and lengths we pursue to protect our prized possessions. People go so far as to name their cars, refer to them as gender specific and always talk them through that moment they struggle to start. And it is this inner emotion of complete obsession that is at the core of the new Discovery Insure ‘Love your Car’ commercial, directed by Slim of Egg Films for +27 Advertising and edited by Marcelle Mouton of Deepend Post Production.

The approach was an interesting take on acknowledging South African truisms that are instantly recognisable and charmingly humorous. It talks to Discovery Insure’s value benefit of rewarding clients for driving well and reinforcing the concept that South Africans are well known for loving their cars no matter what the age or the price point. 

As an internationally experienced and awarded team, +27 Advertising pride themselves on the fact that they are intimately involved in all agency deliverables. As such, they brought in award-winning commercials director Slim, represented by Egg Films, to produce the ad. “Slim realised our creative vision immediately at the briefing stage and brought the script to life with additional scenes and approaches we could follow,” said +27 Advertising’s executive creative director Adrian Millar. “His unique production style, ability to extract amazing performances from the cast and inherent sense of humour ensured a brilliant execution.”

According to Slim, the core idea of the story is the unspoken and “often peculiar relationship we share with a metal box on wheels”. What he encapsulates are slice-of-life moments that have a playful look at the exaggerated lengths people go to care for their cars. “Basically, the tone is about a heightened relationship – romanticising our characters interaction one notch up from ‘everyday’ or ‘normal’,” he adds.  

With an emotive tone that exaggerates and intensifies real moments, Deepend Post Production worked closely with Slim in terms of the overall pace and structure of the ad, making sure the editing creates almost comedic timing. “Visually achieving this sense of passion and compulsion around the character’s interaction with their cars, came down to romanticising the nature of every shot through lensing, composition and pacing,” shares Slim. "Working with Slim with such great shots and performances provided a different kind of dilemma of what to leave out,” says editor Marcelle Mouton. 

For Slim and his team, it was critical that through contemporary techniques of framing or composition, they filmed the most imperative details or moments of the interaction with the vehicles, in order to convey that specific emotion or sense. Through intricate wardrobe, colour palette and location choice; the team successfully heightened the satirical beauty and emotion around the cars and owners.

Previously, the +27 Advertising put together a series of commercials for Discovery Insure aimed at conveying the premise that Discovery Insure drivers are better drivers. From the macro focus on the car owner’s driving skills, now down to the emotion people have for their cars, the visual message they sought to deliver was: We take your passion for your cars seriously (even if it is a bit odd at times). With almost 15 000 views on YouTube, ‘Love your Car’ is fast creating commotion and peaking interest on airwaves across the country.