Earlier this year, Toyota and Saatchi & Saatchi enlisted the services of comedian Dai Henwood to star in an entertaining campaign for its Genuine Parts business that played on the Japanese brand’s high levels of trust—and on the fear we all have of being ripped off by automotive cowboys. In the clips, Henwood did an Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence and played a dodgy-yet-loaded business owner Frank, a boganic secretary Sherl and a salty tow truck driver Trev. And now he’s back for another round where he again shows his acting versatility by adding an uptight businessman, a disinterested student and even a mum and her beautiful baby to his repertoire.
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As well as being popular with the viewers, the 7 Days gang are also popular in commercial circles, with Paul Ego voicing ads for Pak ‘n Save, Guy Williams fronting campaigns for All Good and HPA, Ben Hurley MCing cricket games and Dai Henwood voicing Mitre 10 ads, spruiking fires and taking the Eddie Murphy approach for Toyota. Now Godfrey Hirst, Australasia’s biggest carpet manufacturer, has employed Henwood’s services and taken viewers on a trip around the country to announce its nationwide flooring sale.
Toyota is one of the country’s most trusted brands and has been a regular on the Reader’s Digest list (despite a couple of high-profile international recalls in recent years). This is a big part of the reason it’s still top of the pops when it comes to overall sales. And it’s playing on that trust—and on the fear people have of being ripped off by automotive cowboys—in a new campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi for its Genuine Parts business that sees Dai Henwood taking a leaf out of the Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence acting book and playing three different characters.
DIY has become a fixture of recent Mitre 10 campaigns and it will again take centre stage in what the country’s largest home improvement retailer is calling a “market-first” integrated campaign by DraftFCB called Easy As that incorporates TVCs, a website, in-store programmes, print, mobile and a YouTube channel.
Dan Carter got a bit of grief when he was somehow turned into a slightly creepy wallflower for Daikin heatpumps. And Stephen Fleming is well renowned as the diving spokesman for Fujitsu. Now “New Zealand’s number one selling wood fire” Metro Fires has combined the two with a parody ad featuring Dai Henwood.