The 2000s, Great Endorsers for the Small Screen
In 1993, Pirelli advertising came back to television with immensely popular endorsers and internationally renowned directors, like in the day of Juan Manuel Fangio and the Gammafilm commercials. Also the “If you’re going to drive, drive” campaign used a well-known face – one that everyone recognised and that reminded motorists that the Pirelli brand has always been a mix of performance and charm. It was the actress Sharon Stone, just back from her worldwide success in the film Basic Instinct in 1992. The Dutch director Willy van der Vlugt’s commercial, Driving Instinct, entered the homes of millions of European viewers.
The photograph of the American athlete Carl Lewis in red stiletto heels was taken in 1994 and appeared with the words Power is nothing without control. The advertising campaign, which in five words confirmed Pirelli’s brand reputation, was the brainchild of the Young & Rubicam agency. From print to video: in 1995 the “Power is nothing without control” campaign became a television commercial, which became a cult hit. Directed by Gerard de Thame, Carl Lewis is seen in a race, packed with special effects, along the New York skyline. He runs all the way to the Statue of Liberty, across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then over the waters of the Hudson River and up to the top of the Chrysler Building. In 1997, the French athlete Marie-José Pérec, the fastest woman in the world, took over from the “Son of the Wind”. Again with Gerard de Thame directing, Pérec revisited Carl Lewis’s race in a dreamlike manner: not in New York, however, but in an imaginary world of molten lava and ice, with the athlete fleeing from sea monsters, fiery lava flows, collapsing rocks and other dangers. At the end of the video, she shows her foot, revealing the Pirelli tread that has enabled her to race back to safety.
For the 2000-2001 advertising campaign, Pirelli Pneumatici turned to the Armando Testa agency, and this led to another turning point. The age of universally renowned endorsers was over, giving way to a new one, in which “the star is the product itself”. Wild was a television commercial directed by Thed Lenssen, who headed a group with stage effects by Allen Hall (Oscar winner for Forrest Gump), sound by Dane Davenis (Matrix), editing by Hank Corvwin (Natural Born Killer), and lighting by Harrisy Savides, who was famous for the video clips of pop star Madonna. An entire herd of tyres – with the sole exception of a Pirelli – go flying off the precipice in Colorado from which Thelma and Louise take flight at the end of the famous film: two thousand tyres launched at 80 km/h. The following year, the scene moved to the sea: in The Grip, directed by Jan de Bont, the herd becomes a school of fish: we see a deep-sea fishing boat with its crew waiting for their catch, which is soon upon them, pulling on the line and dragging the boat down. The marlins, who win the battle, emerge one by one almost as if to mock the fishermen: they are Pirelli tyres, which have perfect grip even on water. In the 2000s, Pirelli tyres are the stars of a visual communication that has gone from graphics to television, and has ended up in the world of cinema.
In 1993, Pirelli advertising came back to television with immensely popular endorsers and internationally renowned directors, like in the day of Juan Manuel Fangio and the Gammafilm commercials. Also the “If you’re going to drive, drive” campaign used a well-known face – one that everyone recognised and that reminded motorists that the Pirelli brand has always been a mix of performance and charm. It was the actress Sharon Stone, just back from her worldwide success in the film Basic Instinct in 1992. The Dutch director Willy van der Vlugt’s commercial, Driving Instinct, entered the homes of millions of European viewers.
The photograph of the American athlete Carl Lewis in red stiletto heels was taken in 1994 and appeared with the words Power is nothing without control. The advertising campaign, which in five words confirmed Pirelli’s brand reputation, was the brainchild of the Young & Rubicam agency. From print to video: in 1995 the “Power is nothing without control” campaign became a television commercial, which became a cult hit. Directed by Gerard de Thame, Carl Lewis is seen in a race, packed with special effects, along the New York skyline. He runs all the way to the Statue of Liberty, across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then over the waters of the Hudson River and up to the top of the Chrysler Building. In 1997, the French athlete Marie-José Pérec, the fastest woman in the world, took over from the “Son of the Wind”. Again with Gerard de Thame directing, Pérec revisited Carl Lewis’s race in a dreamlike manner: not in New York, however, but in an imaginary world of molten lava and ice, with the athlete fleeing from sea monsters, fiery lava flows, collapsing rocks and other dangers. At the end of the video, she shows her foot, revealing the Pirelli tread that has enabled her to race back to safety.
For the 2000-2001 advertising campaign, Pirelli Pneumatici turned to the Armando Testa agency, and this led to another turning point. The age of universally renowned endorsers was over, giving way to a new one, in which “the star is the product itself”. Wild was a television commercial directed by Thed Lenssen, who headed a group with stage effects by Allen Hall (Oscar winner for Forrest Gump), sound by Dane Davenis (Matrix), editing by Hank Corvwin (Natural Born Killer), and lighting by Harrisy Savides, who was famous for the video clips of pop star Madonna. An entire herd of tyres – with the sole exception of a Pirelli – go flying off the precipice in Colorado from which Thelma and Louise take flight at the end of the famous film: two thousand tyres launched at 80 km/h. The following year, the scene moved to the sea: in The Grip, directed by Jan de Bont, the herd becomes a school of fish: we see a deep-sea fishing boat with its crew waiting for their catch, which is soon upon them, pulling on the line and dragging the boat down. The marlins, who win the battle, emerge one by one almost as if to mock the fishermen: they are Pirelli tyres, which have perfect grip even on water. In the 2000s, Pirelli tyres are the stars of a visual communication that has gone from graphics to television, and has ended up in the world of cinema.
