skills/creative-director/references/legendary-campaigns/cards/honda-grr-2004.md

---
id: honda-grr-2004
title: "Grr"
brand: Honda
agency: Wieden+Kennedy London
year: 2004
country: UK
region: europe
industry: automotive
pattern: [P11, P14]
category: film
idea_type: campaign
involvement: passive_view
channel: digital
duration: moment
goal: [awareness, engagement]
budget: high
emotion: [ironic_sincerity, triumphant]
emotion_tier: 3
insight_domain: autonomy
media_epoch: tv_first
awards: [cannes_grand_prix]
quality_score: 8
scalability: universal
risk: edgy
confidence: high
quality: full
source_url: https://vimeo.com/9671866
---

# Grr (Honda · 2004)

## Insight
Honda engineers hated diesel engines — they considered them ugly, dirty, noisy. That authentic engineering emotion (hate) was more compelling than any rational claim about the new diesel engine's qualities. The most honest reason to buy the product was the story of the people who overcame their own hatred to build it.

## Mechanic
An animated musical film in which diesel engines are hunted and destroyed across a fantastical landscape, accompanied by a cheerful song about hating diesel. The tagline: "Hate something. Change something. Make something better." The final reveal: Honda's new diesel engine, built by engineers who hated diesel engines.

## Why it worked
P11 (absurd as carrier): the animated hatred of diesel engines is delightful in its directness. P14 (product as proof): the emotion of the engineers — their actual hatred and subsequent mastery — is the evidence for the product's quality. No car review, no expert testimony, no product shot can do what an animated depiction of an engineer's genuine contempt can. Won Cannes Grand Prix.

## Steal
Ask what the people who made the product hate about the problem they solved. Their authentic negative emotion about the starting point is more credible than any positive claim about the result. Let the hatred drive the narrative.

## Related
- Pattern: [[../MOC-pattern.md#p11]]
- Sibling: [[metro-trains-dumb-ways-to-die-2012.md|Dumb Ways to Die]]
- Sibling: [[old-spice-man-your-man-could-smell-like-2010.md|The Man Your Man Could Smell Like]]
- Emotion match: [[absolut-absolut-campaign-1981.md|Absolut _____]]

---

*Author: Serge Shima ([t.me/aimastersme](https://t.me/aimastersme) · [sergeshima.com](https://sergeshima.com) · [aimasters.me](https://aimasters.me)) · License: CC BY 4.0 — attribution required · Source: [smixs/creative-director-skill](https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill)*