Written by new-contact on May 6, 2010. Posted in Production News

VW ad doubles South Africa for India

Major vehicle manufacturer VW has used South Africa as a double for India in a new series of spots advertising the Polo car. The adverts feature a driver testing the prowess and strength of the Polo through a series of animal and tribal encounters.

Stephen Brierley, Head of Production for Stink, explained that India was considered as a filming location but they eventually decided against it: “We thought about shooting in India but it would have been too difficult and there were no wranglers to help us with the animals.”

The production ended up shooting for three days in Cape Town and two days near Durban. They tracked down the single rhinoceros in the whole of South Africa that is tame enough to be used for filming purposes and shot in a lion park near Durban. In the finished advert the driver tests the Polo’s strength by subjecting it to a rhino charge. The charge was cheated by mounting the car on a spinning rig and shooting the rhino through a special cage mounted on a truck.

Additional spots will centre on ostrich and cattle encounters, as well as an attack from Indian tribesmen. Rudi Rossouw, a Producer with Stillking in Cape Town, said: “Filming with the ostrich was a much more achievable day than working with the rhino. For the cattle spot we blocked off a road from 5am until about 8pm and the car had to weave between the animals, which was a bit of a challenge.”

The cattle shoot involved closing the road for the day using permits from the local council and the Traffic Department. Mr Rossouw added: “The authorities present were very accommodating and had smiles on their faces even at the end of the day!”

Credits
Client: Volkswagen Group India
Agency: DDB Mudra
Production Company: Stink, London
Head of Production: Stephen Brierley
Production Service Company: Stillking Films
Executive Producer: Rudi Rossouw

Director: Christoffer von Reis
Director of Photography: Hoyte van Hoytema