The Audi R8: ‘The slowest car we’ve ever built!’

Audi UK is investing more than £6 million to support its R8 high-performance sports car with one of the most ironic claims in the history of advertising: "the slowest car we’ve ever built". The new campaign featuring the sought-after all-aluminium, quattro four-wheel-driven, V8-powered two-seater breaks this week, and represents the largest investment ever made by Audi UK in the launch of a new car.The R8 is, of course, anything but slow off the mark: it is the fastest production car Audi has ever produced, but because each one is constructed with painstaking precision, largely by hand, it actually has the by far the slowest build process of all Audi models. Only 450 cars will be delivered in the UK this year, and 750 in 2008, with prices starting at £77,000. “The R8 is the epitome of Vorsprung durch Technik – it embodies everything it stands for – advancement through technology," explains Peter Duffy, Audi UK’s Head of Marketing. "It also symbolises progressive design, our pursuit of perfection and unrivalled handling built from our motorsport history. We had to tell the story of how the car is built." That story will be told in a 90-second commercial developed by creative duo Richard McGrann and Andy Clough of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), Audi’s long-standing creative partner and the agency responsible for encapsulating its values in the UK through the ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ catchphrase. It uses a filming technique developed by director Olivier Gondry, and observes a group of real Audi mechanics over a number of days as they construct the vehicle from the very first bolt to the finished car. “We wanted to make a film which made the process of constructing an R8 as beautiful as the car itself,” explains Richard McGrann. The effect captures the workers’ movement through time – each frame measures a point in time compressed into one shot. Filming took place over eight days in Germany, with each frame requiring a minimum of 20 different shots and four layers to achieve the unique visual effect. The soundtrack for the commercial is provided by critically acclaimed folk singer Simone White, whose pure vocals and haunting melodies have had both critics and listeners spellbound. The beautiful track, ‘The Beep Beep’, is taken from Simone’s new album – ‘I am the Man.’ The multi-channel campaign breaks on 17 October at 1855hrs during the England vs Russia football match on Sky Sports One*. From 16 November, the commercial will also be aired in cinemas across the UK around quality films such as American Gangster – the latest offering from Ridley Scott starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Around this time a ‘making of’ programme will also be broadcast on the Audi Channel on Sky 884, and the R8 will begin making two-day appearances on the concourses of major UK stations to give travellers a glimpse of the finished article.