# Debunk this Honda ad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840 "2003-06-10T12:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/1 "2003-06-10T12:36:40Z")
In the UK at least there’s an ad for the new Honda Accord that features many components of the car rolling across ramps and slides bumping into each other, sort of like the elaborate traps in old Tom and Jerry films. They say none of its faked, all the components act without computer trickery. True? Its seems unlikely for the bits and pieces to roll as they did without some sort of tricks going on. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/2 "2003-06-10T12:47:46Z")
I have seen several articles about it, all say that it is exactly as shown with no fakery. It was 600+ takes, cost them $30 million or so (not sure of that number off hand), and was just a riduclously tedious exercise. Nonetheless, one of the coolest ads ever. It is indeed unlikely, but possible. For example, the wheels rolling up hill. The wheels are carefully weighted so that the least jog will destroy the equilibrium, bringing the weight from the top to the bottom, thus rolling the tire. Before it can stablize, it knocks another tire the same way. They are indeed able to roll uphill for very short distances this way. ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/3 "2003-06-10T12:52:21Z")
[http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/honda-ad.html](http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/honda-ad.html) Here’s the ad. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/4 "2003-06-10T12:52:59Z")
All accounts are that the Honda ad was one single shot without any special effects (and with over 600 takes). The only “cheat” was putting some bolts in the wheels so they’d go uphill. It is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/5 "2003-06-10T12:54:04Z")
there are lots of parts that look fake, especially the tires rolling up the ramp ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/6 "2003-06-10T13:00:10Z")
You can see the ad using Honda’s link here. [http://www.marketingfix.com/archives/amazing\_honda\_ad.php](http://www.marketingfix.com/archives/amazing_honda_ad.php) ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/7 "2003-06-10T13:18:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by metroshane \* > \*\*there are lots of parts that look fake, especially the tires rolling up the ramp \*\* There have been several threads about this ad. This one debunks the idea that the part with the tyres was faked: [Honda commercial: The part with the tires](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=188834) ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/8 "2003-06-10T13:21:33Z")
I thought the tires would be possible, but IIRC it seemed like that muffler rolled for quite a long time for an oblong object. ---
**Author:** ![smam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@smam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smam)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/9 "2003-06-10T13:58:30Z")
It is funny though that the winscreen wipers stop moving as soon as their ‘link’ has been made. I would have thought that the water on the windscreen would cause the wipers to continue to shuffle. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/10 "2003-06-10T14:12:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smam \* > **It is funny though that the winscreen wipers stop moving as soon as their ‘link’ has been made** I don’t know exactly what happens but it seems easy to enough to imagine that the thing on the floor it bumps into somehow disconnects it from the power. Something similar happens with the cooling fan, although it’s easy to see that it pulls its own plug out when it starts to travel. ---
**Author:** ![Armilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19b73/32.png) [@Armilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Armilla)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/11 "2003-06-10T14:15:54Z")
Thanks to the wonder of interactive TV I have the DVD of this advert (hey, it was free). As I recall there was one small piece of computer fakery used to tie the whole thing together because the room it was filmed in was not long enough to fit the entire contraption. The film was made in two parts and then stitched together in a computer. I believe the cut occurs while the exhaust silencer is rolling along the ground. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/12 "2003-06-10T14:20:06Z")
cite? ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/13 "2003-06-10T14:59:17Z")
There is a DVD out there that has a mini-documentary of the ad. With the outtakes and all. Looks real to me…especially with all the frustration of trying to get it right…they even had a small fire… ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/14 "2003-06-10T15:01:59Z")
There is a CG splice in the middle… but otherwise it’s for real. Cite: [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=12844132&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=TAKE%20606](http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=12844132&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=TAKE%20606) ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/15 "2003-06-10T15:03:09Z")
IIRC, they had to shoot the commercial 600 times in order to get each component to work correctly. It was shot on a sound stage in London. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/16 "2003-06-10T15:08:09Z")
And [here](http://www.anvari.org/fun/Truth/Making_of_Honda_Ad.html) is a story link, The name of the ad was “Cog”. Checking the facts…it took 606 takes, and it was shot in Paris, not London. Interesting read. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/17 "2003-06-10T15:55:52Z")
From **gonzoron** ’s link: > [@](#): > > Just one second of computer generation is used to link the two halves - when an exhaust pipe rolls across the floor. So this means that the amazing rolling muffler really _is_ fake. I called it! There is a split-second when the muffler is the only device on the screen (the previous one disappears to the left, and the next one hasn’t yet appeared from the right), so I guess they spliced the empty floor and wall together to match, and then animated the muffler over the splice? ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/18 "2003-06-10T17:00:47Z")
It’s like a real life Rube Goldberg cartoon. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debunk-this-honda-ad/180840/19 "2003-06-10T17:13:19Z")
[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6304551630/ref=cm\_wl\_ovu-pg.1-pos.7/102-1833496-6240925?v=glance&coliid=I380FL3CYT9XMU&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6304551630/ref=cm_wl_ovu-pg.1-pos.7/102-1833496-6240925?v=glance&coliid=I380FL3CYT9XMU&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER) The Way Things Go. This movie has no spliced CGI, just incredible setups. (There is one cut in the middle, but it’s because foam is working its way across a surface and probably took 10 minutes to do so).