Honda’s UK arm has distanced itself from events after a plane which crashed in Spain, killing two people, had the previous evening been used for filming a live advertisement for its new Accord screened on Britain’s Channel 4.
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Nine skydivers jumped free of the plane before it crashed in the Lillo area of central Spain on Friday, killing the pilot and a passenger, Agence France-Press (AFP) reported. Four were hurt in the fall, two seriously.
Honda UK issued a statement saying the plane in the accident had been one of those used the previous day in filming the advert, which featured a team of skydivers spelling out the company name but stressed the accident was unconnected to its advertisement.
Honda said: “No-one on the plane was in any way connected to Honda or with the company’s advertising shoot.
“Honda extends its sincerest condolences to the families of the two people killed in Friday’s crash.”
In a separate statement, Honda UK said the advertisement went out live on Channel 4 television on Thursday night and featured 14 skydivers spelling out the word ‘Honda’.
The three minute live spot was shown in real time at 8.10pm with no special effects, demonstrating, the automaker said, the ‘Difficult Is Worth Doing’ philosophy of its marketing campaign for the redesigned Accord line.
The campaign continued yesterday (1 June) when ‘Jump’, the main TV advert, made its debut.
Filmed in the Mojave Desert, California, the ad features a large team of skydivers attempting to form shapes in the sky that hint at new technologies on the Accord. These shapes include a suspension spring, a camera, a steering wheel; and ultimately the word ‘Accord’.
The outgoing Honda Accord was the subject of the most-awarded UK TV advert ever, ‘Cog’ which showed various components of the car working in sequence to achieve an end result.
