Porsche’s Unapologetic Family Tree Ad
By Gunnar Heinrich | YouTube
FROM what dreams may come?
This is a sharp, slickly edited advert for the Porsche Panamera. The tag line: “four uncompromised.”
The production ticks off all the goodies in a tight package: namely showcasing the new four door GT – the Panamera – midst a delightful circus of whizzing flat-6 turbos, claiming its place in a line of thoroughbred performance and race cars while referencing the early ambitions of the company’s eponymous founder- Dr. Ferry Porsche.
In so much that the Carrera GT gets plenty of camera time, you have to feel a little wistful for Porsche’s now-discontinued super car.
About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
headbang8 | Oct 21, 2009 | Reply
The things that I admire about the spot, apart from the drool-worthy sheet metal, are craft elements.
They have managed to keep the car clean, and the sheet metal shiny, while travelling at high speeds over sand, salt and dirt.
It may look easy, but it ain’t.
They’ve been awfully clever with the lighting, too. If you look at the glints on the car, you’ll see that light comes from the side, suggesting that they shot the car while the sun was low on the horizon.
This is SOP for car commercials. A car is a gigantic reflective surface. If the light comes from above, you don’t see the shape of it. And the car ends up looking like a glowing ball. (I notice that you manage this aspect of ADLTV rather carefully, Gunnar)
Yet the surrounding environment looks like the sun is overhead. Necessary for us to read the “tree” which the cars make at the end.
The producers of the film manage to make it look seamless, as though the whole thing were shot at the same time of day.
The sun-wrangling was quite skillful. Or did they have a little digital help?
Jim | Oct 21, 2009 | Reply
Of course like much advertising it is a pretty lie, as the Panamera (and the Cayenne) only share a name with the sports cars that made Porsche famous.
The Panamera is still fugly in the way a friend from high school, a studly jock (the 911) morphed in to the slovenly tub of lard (the Panamera) whom you meet again 30 years later at a reunion. Some things are similar, but he’s not the same guy.
If it were my money and I was looking beyond the usual saloon marques, I’d rather the Qattroporte or the upcoming Aston Martin Rapide. Perhaps the Porsche is the better performer at the expense of having to excuse its appearance, but the others will bring smiles and admiring looks for years and will not be disappointing behind the wheel.
Anonymous | Oct 21, 2009 | Reply
Headbang, I suspect that there’s plenty of CGI at work here throughout the ad.
Jim, too funny. Though like the tub of lard’s still got muscle… Perhaps he’d be put on defense now rather than offense.
Paul | Oct 22, 2009 | Reply
Nice analysis, headbang.
Find the Panamera a bit off-putting style-wise, but I didn’t like the Cayenne when it came out, either, and I do now.
More than the rest, I like the spot’s soundtrack. Love the sound of those machines.
Michael | Oct 22, 2009 | Reply
I do love this commercial, Gunnar. It’s slick, tight, shiny, and well planned. The low, deep bass in the music and smooth, knowledgeable voice in the VO makes it all the more enjoyable and enthralling. As if we needed even more than just pictures of 50 Porches to make our mouths drool.
In case anyone is wondering, there was a huge amount of digital help going into the video, as headbang8 asks. Check out the a video Porche released about the making of here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF4rWvjLR_8.
G | Oct 23, 2009 | Reply
Thanks Michael! I know a few of us were wondering…