The campaign consists of two 60-second commercials, Statistics and Instruments, and three 20-seconders, Engine, Brake Assist, and Spine. Each ad contains a unique story, except Instruments, which provides an overview of the three short ads, plus a scene of a man standing on one hand (which is really hot, I must add). Statistics also comes in 55-second and 60-second editions.
Each ad seeks to dramatically illustrate with the human form the features of the Primera. Long, low earth tremblings vibrate through your entire body as you watch these slow motion scenes. The backgrounds are pulled out of focus, and the color almost entirely stripped out of the footage, thrusting each person into greater detail. There haven't been many commercials -- and perhaps moving picture studies of the human form -- this visceral. (Though I am not an expert on that subject, I figure it's a safe statement to make.)
We'll use Brake Assist as an example. First, you feel the rumbling pulsing right through your body, especially those of you with woofers. A man with an impeccably taut musculature runs and jumps with much force, landing in a puddle whose water splashes out of focus, emphasizing the Primera's braking abilities.
It's not all muscles and power, though. Statistics features a wide selection of ages and forms. It begins with a little girl, naked, playing in a puddle, set to the childlike beauty of Boards of Canada. In the clip's longer version, a Japanese woman has her hair whipped about by the wind. And an old man, face old and worn, is jostled by the "thousands of road bumps."
Cindy Burnay, Cunningham's producer at Black Dog/RSA Films, relays: "It was shot under freezing, dreadful conditions but it was perfect for Chris because it was overcast and grey. That's why we went there: he likes that light." (Shots, #55)
Cunningham's Nissan commercials have a beauty unexplored in most of his published work. Only in flex have we seen this side of his. I hope we see more.
Engine is the only one of these available on Chris' Directors Label DVD. Statistics, Engine, Brake Assist, and Spine are available in high quality here at ukshowreels.tv (click View Reels; RSA Films; Chris Cunningham). Instruments is here at adforum.com (registration required).
Copy from 60-second Statistics
In your lifetime you'll spend around six years in a car
You'll be insulted by other drivers over four hundred times
You'll spend seven months in traffic jams
Almost forty percent of you will develop back troubles
More than thirty percent will fall asleep at the wheel
And you'll encounter thousands of road bumps
The performance of a car is not the only thing that matters
It's the driver's performance that counts
If you feel good, your perform better
That's why we designed everything around your body
Around you
Copy from 55-second Statistics
In your lifetime you'll spend around six years in a car
Be insulted by other drivers over four hundred times
Forty percent of you will develop back troubles
Thirty percent will fall asleep at the wheel
And you'll encounter thousands of road bumps
The performance of a car is not the only thing that matters
It's the driver's performance that counts
That's why we designed everything around your body
Around you