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Nissan Presents Thrill Driver
Super Bowl LVI
After a seven year hiatus, Nissan returned to the Super Bowl. We showed off the thrilling, transformative power of the Nissan Z by turning America’s favorite dad into a suave action movie star. To promote our SBLVI debut, we positioned THRILL DRIVER as a major motion picture, teasing it as if it were an upcoming Hollywood film: with motion picture posters, YouTube film critic teaser reviews, an adult collectible action figure of Eugene Levy, and a first-of-its-kind Snapchat lens that turned our competitors’ car commercials into a thrilling Nissan experience.
Within 48 hours, Business Insider declared our “official trailers” as the #1 trending spot on YouTube’s AdBlitz. Post game, Fast Company and iSpot ranked the spot as the #1 auto ad of the game. The campaign was picked up by The Today Show, Bloomberg, Adweek, AdAge, CampaignUS, RoadShow, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, CampaignLive, Business Wire, and more.
Directed by Craig Gillespie
Leading up to the Super Bowl
Teaser trailers for “Thrill Driver” dropped in the weeks leading up to the big game. Branding was intentionally subtle, letting the internet question if this was, in fact, a real movie. Real movie or not, the internet knew for certain that Eugene Levy is a certified #ThirstTrap. Popular YouTube film critics The Film Theorists and Chris Stuckmann reviewed our official trailers, as if Thrill Driver was a real film.
Key Art & OOH
We strategically placed hand-illustrated movie promo posters around LA, the Super Bowl host city. Key art was used across a wide range of assets.
A few weeks leading up to the big game we started to change Nissan’s instagram account to tease the film. Behind each title were details for fans to engage with including bloopers and BTS.
On Social Media
We turned Eugene Levy into a limited-edition adult collectible action figure. Each “Action Eugene” came accessorized with his Z keys and coffee mug from the ad, along with the same (temporary) dragon tattoos he rocked in the spot. We sent them to unboxing influencers Vat19 and Unbox Therapy, and superfans who interacted with us on social.
Action Eugene
AR Lens
And we were the first auto brand to develop a lens that used machine-learning to recognize and transform any vehicle into a Nissan Z, on a screen and IRL.
Giphy is the perfect platform for fans to connect with our campaign through fun, shareable GIFs. It allowed Nissan to tap into the moment and be part of the excitement in a creative, real-time way.
Giphy Library
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AGENCY → TBWA\Chiat\Day NY
CCO → Chris Beresford-Hill
ECD → Dave Banta / John Parker
CD → Shawna Klein
ACD → Phil Fattore / Alyssa Fishman
JR AD/CW → Wes Rhodes / Lauren Byers
DIRECTOR → Craig Gillespie
DP → Phillipe Le Sourd
VFX → The Mill / MPC
KEY ART → Little Giant Studios -
PRESS → iSpot / AdAge / Adweek / Fast Co / Top 15 USA / Today Ad Meter / Business insider / Today Show Best Ads