Hey Wallace And Gromit Did A Renault Commercial Which Is Smart Because Of Sex Scandals

Celebrity endorsements are sort of a gamble, when you think about it. Sure, it made sense at the time for Texas Instruments to get a big shot like Bill Cosby to advertise their computers, but history hasn’t exactly been a friend to that decision. I mean, it’s not like TI is still selling home computers, but still. The point is that celebrities are human beings, and human beings are, let’s be honest here, kind of a crapshoot. Do you really want your brand tied to one fallible person and their potentially terrible decisions?

It doesn’t even have to be a celebrity, either. Noted sandwich-assembly firm Subway reached out to just some regular slob who willingly put himself on a diet almost exclusively composed of Subway sandwiches, and I think we all remember how that turned out. I never trusted that dude. There was always something off about that sandwich-gorged creep.

Anyway, the point is, why risk it with real people? They’re a hazard! A much better plan is to use tiny people and animals made out of clay or plasticine or something similar. Spokespeople made of such materials are far less likely to commit sexcrimes or say something racist to a waiter or anything like that. Renault understood this, and for their 2003 advertising campaign for the Kangoo, they made a wise decision:

That’s right, they chose Wallace and Gromit to do their commercial, all but guaranteeing that there would be no sex scandals to tarnish their brand image.

Interestingly, I think the Kangoo kind of fits the whole Wallace and Gromit/Aardman aesthetic; while Wallace’s usual choice of car is a hard-working Austin A35 van, seen in multiple guises over the years:

… I think that a Renault Kangoo at least sort of feels like a modern take on that old British sort of work van. I mean, just look at the Kangoo – it has a similar sort of pleasingly dorky aesthetic as the old Austin work van:

It’s utilitarian and a little bulbous and friendly, all at once. If I had to place Wallace and Gromit into something modern-ish, a Kangoo feels like a pretty reasonable choice.

Now, the ad is interesting in that there’s a little bit of a bait and switch going on, at least when we first see the Kangoo:

That’s a Kangoo, all right, but there’s something a bit off. All those rivets. I’m pretty sure Renault’s manufacturing process is a lot less rivet-heavy than that. But I can think of someone who has a far more rivet-focused manufacturing process:

…and, of course, the truth is soon revealed in the ad:

So, if I’m understanding this properly, Wallace has constructed what looks to be a very Yunickian 7/8ths or so scale Kangoo and a special treadmill assembly for testing purposes. I know Wallace tends to overcomplicate things and find reasons to build elaborate machinery like this, but I still feel a test drive at his local Renault dealership may have been a better use of time. I mean, maybe? I suppose the treadmill driving sim could be used for almost any car, so maybe it actually is a pretty good use of time. Who’s to say?

I do like that Renault had a non-riveted Kangoo model made for the ad, though still with slightly cartoony proportions, making multiple levels of meta reality going on here.

Really, it’s all pretty delightful. And kind of makes me want a Renault Kangoo and an Austin A35 van.

Now, enjoy the pleasingly overdramatic The Wrong Trousers trailer: