1 Comments Ogilvy Cape Town Castrol EDGE TV Commercial With Cristiano Ronaldo

Article written by the brilliant Sean Lloyd on the 01 Oct 2009

This is some quite exciting news for local ad agency, Ogilvy Cape Town, using the worlds most famous footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo. You know the man, you know his money, he’s fit, fast, good looking and glides around the pitch like no one else.Basically all men want to be him, and all women want to be with him! I may be exaggerating that a touch…but you know what? I do it because I can!

I think this widely dispels the myth that Cape Town is chilled out and lazy. Well, you know, we actually are! But I tell you, the ad agency people actually do work and I mean this seriously. They’re always working and it scares me to think that the whole world hasn’t read the 4 Hour Work Week (HERE). Then there are the people who write about the city, ha ha ha! Work = beach. Granted we earn less than people from Joburg, but it’s a small price to pay for 1pm Fridays, awesome beaches, no work in summer, Table Mountain, regularly being voted one of the worlds top cities, having fashion models from around the world WILLINGLY descend onto the city to work. I mean come now, it is a bit of a joke!

Cape Town is crazy when it comes to wealth and beauty. Not only are our guys and girls gorgeous, but we get all the gorgeous people from around the world actually filling up our shores. It’s like a fashion show here, all the time! I don’t even try pose anymore, it’s just built into the DNA of anyone from Cape Town! And if that is not enough craziness, Ogilvy Cape Town have been involved in this;

From the press release:

In what may be Ogilvy Cape Town’s most prestigious international celebrity TV shoot, the local agency has used Cristiano Ronaldo to create a Castrol EDGE commercial to be flighted across the world from September this year. The commercial, created for BP Lubricants UK Ltd, emphasises both Ronaldo and the oil’s ability to perform under extreme conditions.

This ad follows in the footsteps of Ogilvy Cape Town’s recent Sun International ad with Charlize Theron. In the commercial Ronaldo demonstrates his ability to play football in extreme hot and cold weather conditions and then matches this to the oil’s capacity to do the same.

“While the glamour of shooting overseas with Cristiano Ronaldo is undeniably seductive, more exciting is the fact that we’re developing global work for a global brand from Ogilvy Cape Town,” says Gavin Levinsohn, Ogilvy Cape Town Managing Director.

FIFA’s 2008 World Footballer of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo, is a brand ambassador for Castrol and a natural fit for a youthful oil brand such as Castrol EDGE. Like the oil, Ronaldo is able to perform under harsh and varied conditions.

“He drives his performance in the game to the edge and delivers the critical moment that sets him apart from all the others in his field. His level of preparation and performance ability whilst operating on the edge is the metaphor that we apply to an engine driven in extreme and trying conditions using Castrol’s Liquid Engineering EDGE,” explains Ogilvy Cape Town Executive Creative Director, Chris Gotz.

The agency predicted some production challenges and therefore needed directors with specific criteria to ensure the ad would be nothing short of a victory. Previous experience with celebrities was a necessity, as well as competence in post production, experience in filming cars, skills in managing various global production houses and the ability to get a good performance out of a non-actor.

A few directors declined the job as only six hours with Ronaldo seemed a limited amount of time to get all the essential shots. The agency short-listed two directors from the United Kingdom and a local director from Giant Films in Cape Town, Ian Gabriel, who also directed Ogilvy Cape Town’s Sun International ad with Charlize Theron.

Gabriel has developed a strong reputation for producing quality work for prestige blue chip clients across the globe including Sun International, Volkswagen Passat, American Express and Carling Black Label for Ogilvy Cape Town.

“Despite the concern around only having six hours with Ronaldo, the shoot day was a huge success. His performance on the day was immaculate. He stayed for the full six hours putting in the dedicated effort that was needed. Flawless pre-planning also ensured smooth sailing, including the use of a Ronaldo double who did full rehearsals prior to the shoot,” adds Gotz.

The ad was shot in several locations; a desert scene was filmed in the Richtersveld, Namibia, Ronaldo’s shots in Manchester and the remainder of the commercial was shot in and around the Western Province as all extreme weather conditions can be found in the Cape.

Both the oil and the soccer player have unique characteristics that have kept them at number one in their respective fields. On the road and on the field, Castrol EDGE and Ronaldo have the perfect ingredients to produce ultimate performance under even the most extreme conditions. To prove how EDGE delivers this extreme engine performance, the oil was frozen to a spine-chilling -55°C, blasted with fire to a blistering 340°C and driven for 72 hours at 150°C – without the engine missing a beat.]

Ronaldo maintains his amazing physique by lifting in excess of 20 tonnes – the equivalent of 10 Audi 4×4s – during a full weight training session. He has great speed and skill but most of all his unpredictability does not allow teams to anticipate what he is likely to do. He is used in such a way that he often drifts, which makes it hard for anyone to isolate him. He poses a threat with both feet and equally, is very strong in the air in front of goal. This combination is a huge threat and it’s rare that a player has all of these qualities.

Manchester United recently received a world record £ 80 million bid for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid, making Ronaldo the highest paid football player in the world.

“Our driving philosophy is liberation: liberating our clients, brands and our own talent. This ad provides such an opportunity for Castrol as a brand, and pushed our staff into some new territory too,” concludes Levinsohn.