Tapping into the insights that disaster has terrible timing, therefore the worst things happen at the most inopportune times, the campaign suggests that using unreliable parts is like inviting disaster.
There’s the story of Leonard, whose car breaks down on the morning of his big presentation and his opportunistic colleague who takes credit for all his hard work as he holds the line for roadside assistance.
There’s Josh, who finds himself sweating on the side of the road late for that all important first meeting with his new girlfriend’s parents, and there’s the sorry tale of a roast dinner intended for the unimpressible in-laws but left in oven for far too long when the ‘chef’ couldn’t get home in time.
According FCB Joburg executive business director, Reagen Kok, these stories might be based on universal truths, but are executed in a uniquely South African way.
“South Africans find humour in tense, uncomfortable or disastrous situations. We are good at laughing at ourselves, and our often less-than-perfect situations. The omniscient narrator in this advert delivers his lines with a wry smile, and the off-beat music and the hint of schadenfreude illustrates this national characteristic,” he says.