RAC brings tools to life in Fantasia summer TV ad

We don’t just tow you to a garage – we bring the garage to you’

The RAC is continuing its move away from the established norm of UK breakdown cover advertising with an animated summer TV ad that brings the tools on an average patrol van to life in Pied Piper fashion.

Breaking on Wednesday 10 July, the 30-second stop-frame animation shows the vast number of tools and parts carried by RAC patrols which enable them to fix four out of five vehicles at the roadside. All the animal-like tool characters are pictured parading onboard an RAC van, with the patrol firmly taking the role of magician.

The ad, which conjures up magical memories of Walt Disney’s Fantasia, tells motorists that ‘this summer we know you need to get where you’re going and that’s why every RAC patrol is equipped with 500 parts and tools and a qualified mechanic’ and finishes with the industry-challenging line: ‘We don’t just tow you to a garage, we bring the garage to you’.

Running until 14 September, the BBH created brand and DRTV ad, has high profile ITV1 evening slots in new drama Love and Marriage, and Law and Order, with a visit to Emmerdale on Friday evening as well as a wide range of nationwide day-time terrestrial and satellite spots. The campaign also includes radio in August and extends across display, direct mail, inserts and online.

RAC chief marketing officer John Orriss says: “We’ve been working hard to bring some much-needed new life to the run-of-the-mill advertising in the category which usually tries to scare motorists into taking out cover. This execution is the exact opposite as it’s full of warmth and positivity which reflects the way we want our roadside assistance and everything the RAC offers the motorist to be conveyed.

“We know that summer-time journeys are full of excitement and expectation so we wanted to reassure people that the skill of our mechanics together with all the tools and parts they carry combines for an outstanding vehicle fix rate that will help them to get where they want to go rather than being towed to a garage.

“The ad is another visualisation of the RAC’s promise to be the motorist’s champion. Our strapline ‘Motorists. We salute you.’ – a subtle acknowledgement to the times when our patrols used to salute members at the roadside – is really starting to resonate with members and motorists alike.”

Creative Credits:

BBH Creative Team: Maria Sousa Machado & Claire Stokes

BBH Creative Director: Nick Kidney & Kevin Stark

BBH Producer: Samara Zagnoiev

BBH Strategic Business Lead: Richard Stainer

BBH Strategy Director: Nick Fell

BBH Team Director: Jon Barnes

BBH Team Manager: Rebecca Levy

Production Company: Passion Pictures

Director: Drew Lightfoot

Executive Producer:

Producer: Simon Quinn

Live Action Producer: Jason Lovelock

DoP: Peter Sorg

Post Production: Passion Pictures & The Mill

Editor/Editing House: Ben Stephens/Whitehouse Post

Music: THECOMPOSERS.TV / Chris Read

Sound: Factory

Sound Engineer: Anthony Moore & Jon Clarke

Exposure (where is this work running, country and media type): UK, TV only

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About RAC Media Centre

The RAC Media Centre provides journalists and news outlets with the latest motoring-related news, comment, data and research.

The RAC is an iconic UK brand, and provides complete peace of mind to nearly 14 million UK private and business drivers - whatever their motoring needs. As well as its premium nationwide breakdown assistance service – with an expert branded patrol workforce attending more than two million breakdowns every year – and European breakdown assistance products, it offers a wide range of market-leading products across insurance, legal services, vehicle inspections and service, maintenance and repair. Included in this is the first-of-its-kind nationwide Mobile Mechanics service which brings the garage to homes and workplaces. 

At the forefront of new solutions for business fleets and consumers, the RAC’s breakdown service is electric-ready with mobile EV charging technology and be called on using myRAC – its all-in-one route planner, fuel finder and breakdown reporting app