I caught this advert a little while back on the old television, something I haven’t owned for about five years now, so I was probably in a bar or at my uncle’s house. It made such an impression on me but for whatever reason I immediately forgot to Youtube it, until yesterday. It’s jaw-dropping the first time you watch it; the entire Renault range is ceremoniously crashed into itself.
It’s called the Renault Ballet, and goodness me did the French manufacturer go all out with this one. They even commissioned the Polish National Orchestra to recreate the composition for the film. Polish no less! Even better though is the fact that after a little research, I confirmed my suspicions that the advert was shot in SA. It was. More details and a hilarious “making of” video when you click “Read the rest of this entry”.
Robbi Smith is a bit of racing legend, who, about 20 years ago, redirected his energy to filming cars. His company, Camera Ready Cars, has shot over 500 commercials, and Robbi has been involved in about another 500 more.
Shooting the Ballet commercial must have been a riot. They were tasked with taking Renault’s entire range out to the Verneuk Pan and smashing it to bits. Here’s the “making of” video. It looks like this video was commissioned by Renault themselves; it features loads of the company’s top brass going on about safety and all that. It’s in French, which is probably why they didn’t cut out the excellent South African swearing. Wait for the curse-riddled instructions about 2 minutes in, it’s hilarious.
Ciro De Siena
Tags: advert, africa, ballet, commercial, renault, robbi, smith, south
