A pack of angry rally cars, some cult classics and Subaru’s entire modern lineup come together for a drive. Then, they chase a mobile car wash across a desert. Autonomously.
That’s right. No one drives any of these cars in this one-and-a-half minute spot called, “Car wash.” But apparently, that’s not the part we’re supposed to be impressed with.
Disciple, a creative agency from Sydney, Australia, uses all these elements to debut Subaru’s new XV (that’s the Crosstrek for us, Americans). While this isn’t a new ad (released in 2012), the XV still represents Subaru’s entry into the crossover segment — a new and highly competitive segment of large hatchbacks. The current trend for car manufacturers is to build a conservative-looking, large hatchback, lift it, and sell it as an alternative to the soul-crushing, freedom-robbing, I’ve-finally-abandoned-my-youth-forever minivan.
But crossovers aren’t better than minivans. Oh, no. At least a minivan is good at moving people — and does it better than anything else. And that’s good. But crossovers have a different job. Really, they have many jobs rolled into one, seemingly impossible job.
Crossovers have to be okay at everything. They don’t have to excel at any one thing — they just have to give the impression of doing anything you ask, “pretty well.” That’s a high order. And since people tend to buy a car by measuring it against the most extreme thing they’ll ask it to do, the crossover was born to satisfy every need car buyers may have, may not have, and may dream of having.
So, thanks to the wonderful laws of supply and demand, consumers have blessed the world with this jack of all trades, master of none: the crossover. Hooray, economics.
Now, you’re a creative at Disciple and your team is given this account, and with it, the task of debuting a brand-new Subaru. When asked what problem their product is meant to solve, the clients from Subaru likely said, “It’s a crossover. We made it to do everything,” and then sat and stared over the table at the creative team, satisfied they’d handed over everything the creatives needed to spark the profit-making, artistic visions.
Luckily, Subaru chose their agency well. And the visions came. By bringing together all of Subaru’s greatest accomplishments, as well as their weirdest successes, Disciple created a story showcasing exactly what the XV is meant to do: a little bit of everything. And in that sense, Disciple even managed to give the brand an air of credibility by shedding light on the less well-known cars from Subaru’s past that would eventually become cult classics.
And the mobile car wash is especially interesting. Besides the fact the mobile car wash itself is its own variety of crossover, it represents the start of something new created out of something trusted and familiar, and they repeat the story by shoving the entire pack of Subarus in the car wash to emerge as the new XV.
Then they have it climb a mountain. That’s a nice touch. I mean, when’s the last time you saw a car company sell a family crossover by making it climb a mountain? It’s in this moment we’re reminded of what it means to own a Subaru. So yes, it may be a big family crossover, but don’t make the mistake of thinking it lost its rally-car soul.
In a nutshell, Disciple totally nailed it. There’s a reason they’re still creating new advertising for Subaru Australia. They really get Subaru, and it shows. And if they can keep churning out ideas as good as this one, I expect Subaru won’t be changing agencies in Australia anytime soon.
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