Advert Alchemy: Peugeot’s Potion
In this series, Squideo has examined the best ways to turn advertising content into gold. Now that we’ve broken down the eight key ingredients, it’s time to dive deep into some examples of stellar advertising. This week, the advert in question was picked by Squideo’s Account Director, Adam Shelton.
When asked why this Peugeot advert had become his favourite, Adam said: “It accomplished everything an advert is meant to. It’s memorable, it’s unique and it keeps the product front and centre. Plus the bit with the elephant is hilarious.”
The Peugeot Roars
You don’t need to be a driver to have heard of Peugeot. You’ll have encountered this French brand from buying your first bicycle to equipping your kitchen. Peugeot was founded in 1810 – over 200 years’ ago – by the Peugeot family who retained majority shares in the automotive company until 2014. Peugeot manufactured a vast variety of products in its early years, from hand-held saws to pepper grinders.
Eventually they branched out into bicycle production, car manufacturing and motorcycle making. Amazingly, they still continue to make kitchen tools under Peugeot Saveurs. Cycles Peugeot and Peugeot Motorcycles are also still on the go, and they make vehicles for motor racing events under Peugeot Sport. Up until 1986, they even had their own cycling team which won ten titles at the Tour de France.
Like many car manufacturers, Peugeot have acquired other brands and ownership of this company has changed hands repeatedly. In the 20th century, Peugeot took over Hotchkiss, Chenard-Walcker, Citroën and Chrysler Europe. As of 2021, Peugeot is owned by Stellantis – a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation which was created after the merger of major American, French and Italian manufacturers. A member of the Peugeot family is part of Stellantis’ senior management, demonstrating the power and influence Peugeot has built and maintained since 1810.
2 Fast 2 Peugeot
Created by Euro RSCG of Milan-Italy, The Sculptor was released in 2003 to critical acclaim – winning numerous international awards. The car promoted in the advert, the Peugeot 206, was released in 1998 as a replacement of the 205 model. Within ten years, the 206 had become Peugeot’s best-selling car.
The advert was so popular that fifteen years later the BBC show Top Gear recreated it in celebration of the Peugeot 206’s anniversary. On its twentieth anniversary, Peugeot also released a recreation of the advert with the Peugeot 208 replacing the 206. To accomplish this, several months were spent at Ajeenkya D Y Patil University in 2002 where engineers painstakingly converted the Hindustan Ambassador.
In the advert, a motorist turns his Ambassador – an iconic Indian car that started life as a Morris Oxford – into a Peugeot 206. Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., who has since gone on to become the director of Netflix’s first Dutch film, The Sculptor is considered one of the best car adverts of all time.
According to the award-winning Creative Director Adrian Holmes:
“A film I’ve always loved is a commercial for the Peugeot 206 called ‘The Sculptor’, made by Euro RSCG Milan in 2002. You must know the one – the young Indian guy who gets an elephant to sit on his old jalopy (amongst other methods) so that it ends up looking like the car of his dreams. Everything about it – the story, the editing, the music, the casting – is simply frame perfect. Apart from anything else, it stands as a monument to the brave and imaginative client who said ‘yes’ to such a wonderful and daring piece of work.”
Peugeot Rides Again
The 206 went on to be Peugeot’s best-selling model of all time, and one of the most popular cars ever made. Like the product, the advert selling it also swept the award boards in 2003: winning at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
From the car’s release in 1998 to 2003, the year of The Sculptor’s release, sales of the Peugeot 206 increased by 146 percent. But why was The Sculptor such a big hit?
Real Renovations
The protagonist of the advert starts out with a Hindustan Ambassador and ends up with a Peugeot 206: the car of his dreams. The audience's expectation, after seeing the Ambassador destroyed, is that a pristine Peugeot 206 would be rolled out at the end. But that doesn’t happen. This car is dented, pummelled, bashed… there’s nothing pristine about it. Yet the protagonist still gets the attention of everyone who sees his new (old) car.
The fact that this advert really turned a Hindustan Ambassador into a Peugeot 206 is part of the reason this advert became so memorable. If they’d used CGI or switched out the car, the advert would have been like any other that uses a product swap.
International Intrigue
The name Peugeot forms an instant connection to its heritage: the brand is undeniably French. Setting the advert in French countryside or on Parisian streets would be predictable. Instead, The Sculptor is set in an Indian city. Why? To show that the car belongs anyway. Can be desired by anyone. It has international appeal.
The setting is also the home of the Hindustan Ambassador, India’s most popular car which was manufactured from 1957 to 2014 and called the “King of Indian Roads.” Once it fell out of production, the car became wildly collectable – but eleven years earlier in 2003 they were still easy to come by. A popular everyday car; much like the Peugeot 206. Stylistically, however, they’re worlds apart which is what made this a great before and after choice. The 206 was meant to be a new design for a new millennium, leaving behind the boxy style of the 20th century.
Mood Music
The advert plays to the song Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Raja Mushtaq, later remixed as Husan by Bhangra Knights. This bhangra dance song ended up charting, made it on Now That’s What I Call Music! 55, and sold over 20 million copies. Bhangra dance music is a non-traditional Punjabi music originating in British-Asian communities. It first emerged in the 1970s, seeing a resurgence in the 2000s that Peugeot got ahead of with its music choice.
This upbeat song only briefly appears after the protagonist successfully converts his Hindustan Ambassador into the Peugeot 206 and the non-traditional bhangra music symbolises the successful alteration of the vehicle.
Content Worth Gold
What do you think? What made Peugeot’s The Sculptor advert so successful? Watch the full advert below and let us know in the comments.
Get in touch with the Squideo team today to find out how we can improve your advertising strategy with video production, motion graphics, social media management and much more!
