Sex, nudity, humour and drama - all in a day's work for Euro RSCG South Africa

For the worldwide launch of the new Peugeot 208, BETC Euro invited a couple of agencies within the Euro network for exciting, new ideas for the manufacturer's flagship model. After a few elimination rounds, Euro RSCG South Africa was awarded the task of developing an interactive video for the car - the first ever for the French brand.

"We wanted to create talkability and get the message about this exciting new model across to a target market which consumes media very differently," says Jonathan Deeb, the Executive Creative Director of Euro RSCG South Africa.

Working with the campaign line 'Let your body drive', the concept was developed by the creative team of Romy Lunz (art director), Balekane Mokoditoa (copywriter) and Jeff Harvey (copywriter), led by Deeb. On the BETC side, they worked with Anne-Cécile Tauleigne (creative director) and Rémi Babinet (creative director and chairman) to mention a few. The result? A seven-minute extravaganza of sex, nudity, humour and high drama as we follow the journey of a naked man (yes, naked) around the city. "The idea is about letting your instincts take control and enjoying the world with your senses," says Deeb.

The agency worked with director, Mike Middleton and producer, Janet Sender, from Jump films for the mammoth production. The project involved weeks of pre-production, several flights between Paris, Cape Town and Joburg, not forgetting hundreds of Skype calls to Paris. This culminated in a week-long shoot in various locations around Cape Town, and despite the freezing weather and a cast and crew of over 300, our lead, Carl Beukes, who spent 70% of the film naked, took it all in his stride.

All that hard work hasn't gone unnoticed. The viral video was launched worldwide on the 16th of February and has 2.4 million views on YouTube, with 1.7 million previews, making that a total of 4.1 million views! (The web is also abuzz and it has received rave reviews on international blogs such as Simply Zesty, Skidd Mark, AdZag, Meme Machine and has already been voted "site of the day" by http://www.thefwa.com.)

Lynn Madeley, CEO of Euro RSCG South Africa, had the following to say, "We are extremely proud of the work and it again highlights that South Africa is at the forefront of creative advertising."

To watch the interactive film, go to YouTube and enter the following link http://youtu.be/1KduwP0wv2w or visit http://www.208-lesite.peugeot.fr/, click on '208 INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE CLIQUEZ ICI' in the middle of the page and find out how much fun can be had when you let your body drive.

Team involved:

Client service: Kate Lambon, Kate Pearce
Copywriter: Jeff Harvey
Copywriter: Balekane Mokoditoa
Art director: Romy Lunz
Agency producer: Leane Carr
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Deeb
Production company: Jump films
Director: Mike Middleton
Producer: Janet Sender
Post production: Kobus Loots, Upstairs Post
Special effects: Christian Van Der Walt, Sinister Studio
Music: Rob Schroeder, Rob Roy Music

BETC Euro Team:

Creative Director: Anne-Cécile Tauleigne
Creative Director and Chairman: Rémi Babinet
International general director: Henri Tripard
Board director: Julien Grimaldi
Account manager: Thomas Boutte
Account director: Xavier Blairon
Group leader: Olivier Sentucq
Producer Maxime Huyghe