Furry Delight

There is near-unanimous agreement that cats are difficult to please, although their indifference towards human beings is up for debate. Hence, when Honda Cars India appointed one such feline to explore the new Honda Jazz, a few whiskers were ruffled.

This four-legged narrator is the latest among myriad brands experimenting with animal videos to get the message across. With its latest campaign, Honda challenges pre-conceived driving notions through our furry friend. Rajesh Goel, SVP & director, sales and marketing, Honda Cars India explains, “Despite the environment having a lot of ‘man-made’ problems, thankfully Honda Jazz ensures that one always gets the most enjoyable and smoothest driving experience. To vividly express this point of view, we required an honest character fluent in sarcasm and yet adored by one and all: a cat.”

Our protagonist is seen wagging its own tail while appreciating the car’s tail lamps, and enjoying a quaint siesta on the car’s rear seats. It is actually personified as a difficult-to-please customer, befitting of a cat. According to Abhinav Kaushik, executive vice president, Dentsu One, this was the plan all along: to not advertise in the typical ‘brochure-in-motion’ style unlike most car commercials. The latest Honda Jazz campaign — which is an extension to last year’s five-part web series ‘Beepisodes’ – retains the humour, minus its earlier cast of comedians. National creative director, Titus Upputuru, explains why, “As we were thinking about the new Jazz and how it became sexier, we thought it’s typical for anyone who has undergone a makeover to acquire a little bit of an attitude problem. So instead of going for the car owner, we thought let’s go for his pet, and a cat would have a mind of its own.” Considering that the video already has 27 million views, it is safe to call the Honda Jazz ‘purrfect’.