The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire.

Aim for the stars, and you' land on the trees. If you should land on some building's roof however, make sure you are inside a car and then drive it dangerously close the edges, you'll definitely get people to sit up. Exactly what Continental Tyres did with their commercial when they introduced themselves to the South African market during the early 90's. 

Never before was a commercial done like this, (an approach that tends to make you win at Cannes), something Continental also achieved. They won a silver that year. Not only did they encapsulate and portray all the benefits one would like to associate with a reliable tyre, but they did so in an innovative manner, and in the process, took their advertising to a whole new level. (Hats off to the creatives for pulling this one off. Terry Murphy was the copywriter and Roddy Louther the Art-Director.)

The commercial was shot on the 24th floor of a building in the central part of Johannesburg. 'Zi Germans', in true fashion, managed to keep everything German. I'm not sure if there was some deal that happened behind the scenes, and if that was the reason they used an Opel too, either way, the intention of what they wanted to achieve was clear: 'Let's make it super'.

I remember this ad simply because it used to scare the living daylights out of me. Who in their right mind was that crazy to go and drive a car on top of building and at an alarming speed too? Little did I realize back then what remarkable things you can achieve with moving-camera, nor was I aware that later on in life I will be introduced to the fascinating world of stunts, stunt-rigging and now also advertising, in the process learning and picking up some fascinating techniques, including some of that which were used in this ad. (Lots of cable rigging systems I'm sure).

With this effort of theirs, Continental made a great ad. It was fresh, market related and gutsy. Their final product is proof of how rewarding it can be when you manage find a great concept and then execute it in a, fresh, out-the-box manner. Now, If that's not advertising, I'm not sure what is.