Burning the Midnight Oil

In one of the more avant-garde examples of sponsorship activation, the French Oil group and partner of the Renault F1 team, Total has developed a unique way of highlighting its involvement in Formula One with its brand new animation, the Total Moon Race. Focussing on the 107-second film’s protagonist, Charlie Sweetheart, the story takes viewers on an exploration of the ultimate test of a Formula One car by staging a race on the moon, in which the 10 year-old boy daydreams he is competing as the three-time universal title holder with Renault. With a track designed by Zoraz Tilkensen, and rivals such as Red Cow Racing, the animation’s creators, BUF, have created an immersive future Formula 1 that has been designed to showcase the efficiency of Total’s products in the environment’s extreme conditions.

After a short preamble about the company’s responsibility to address the world’s energy crises, the film’s introduction goes on, “Tomorrow’s fuels and lubricants will be the result of a judicious blend of innovation, enthusiasm, experience, and boldness. And because dreams have always inspired invention, who knows, maybe one day we’ll be testing our products on the Moon…”

The project, which is backed up by a dedicated website, facebook page and twitter account, will be broadcast in 3D-equipped theatres across Belgian, Canadian, Chinese, French, UAE and UK markets before family movies such as Megamind, Tron and Gulliver. Moon Race’s website is continuously updated with news in the format of fictional press releases, which serve to reinforce the illusion that the event is based in reality. These take the form of interviews with the track’s designer, Charlie Sweetheart and a rather too cocksure competitor Mickey Lamèche as well as frequently interspersed articles about the technological challenge of racing on the moon.

In an interview shortly after completion of the project, Olivier Gilbert, who is co-managing the Total Moon Race project with Jonathan Lagache on behalf of BUF, was asked about the challenges encountered when creating the fictional world. “We were constantly working in a realm halfway between fiction and reality. On the one hand, our graphic designers were able to make up a totally original universe and design the most improbable, spectacular circuit ever. On the other, we had to respect certain realities. The Renault R30 had to look just like the original, and behave just like it on the racetrack. The interior of its engine also had to look exactly like the real V8 engine, not an interpretation. Helping to render all of those details, Renault’s engineers at Enstone and Viry Châtillon were with us every step of the way. The film wouldn’t have been the same without their support.”

It’s rare that a sponsor will go to such extraordinary lengths to highlight its involvement in the sport, especially one that serves to demonstrate the important role it plays in bringing success to the teams it partners. Total’s stroke of genius came about by the suggestive nature of this marketing episode. The message is ultimately about Formula One, but for the layperson, the challenges and technological achievements can sometimes be underestimated. By introducing the idea that its products can achieve success, even when on the moon, Total is conveying, to a captivated audience, the power and more importantly, reliability, of its oils in relatively tame situations like the school run.

TURN ONE
The Turn-One agency has been chosen by Total because of its in-depth knowledge of the world of Formula 1. Throughout the 2010 season, it has helped the Group in the development of marketing tools to enable Total to explain its role, what’s at stake for the company, and its determination to be an exemplary partner, as is the case in all its projects.

BUF
For 25 years, BUF has been known as one of the most innovative companies in the digital effects market. The quality and originality of BUF’s work has garnered us close to 40 international awards (Matrix- Batman, Dark Knight – Arthur and the Minimoys). With full coverage service being offered between our Paris and Los Angeles facilities, BUF Animation is able to deliver world-class computer graphics animated films.