Honda's Impossible Dream Is the Most Inspiring Commercial You'll See Today, Thank Us Later

Thinking of Honda commercials, which one has left the biggest impression on you? For some, it might be the 2003 Cog video which was created to promote the Honda Accord. The two-minute-long ad had most people glued to their screens, as everyone was curious to see what was on the other end of the Rube Goldberg machine made entirely out of Honda parts. The production cost of the Cog was about £1 million ($1.11 million), but there was more to come.

You might also remember the famous Choir commercial created for the eighth-generation Honda Civic. The agency behind this video was Wieden and Kennedy, and they brought in 60 people to recreate the sound of Honda's compact car.

One thing you'll notice about both these commercials is that they're focused on a single product. And that tends to be the case for most commercials. Generally, you want to avoid bombarding viewers with too much information. If you give people too many options to choose from, they might just run away not knowing what to go for.

But things don't always have to be like that. To sell a car or any product for that matter, you don't need to start listing all of its strong points and key figures. Sometimes, you can take the subliminal approach and aim for an emotional reaction from the people that are watching your content.

And this brings us back to Soichiro Honda's dream. He used to work alongside his father in the family bicycle repair business when he was a child, and by the age of 22, he had opened his own auto repair business.

Fast forward to 2022, Honda is one of the Top 10 biggest motor vehicle manufacturers in the world. And its owner's dream has fueled the love for cars and motorcycles for millions of people around the world.

The commercial we're looking at today pays tribute to that dream, as it portrays a small fraction of its realization over the past almost 80 years. Honda's Impossible Dream first aired in December 2005 in the United Kingdom. The soundtrack for the video is perfect given the theme. Andy William's Impossible Dream was released in 1971, but it still makes for an amazing audition today.

As Simon Paisley Day, the actor chosen for this commercial gets out of his trailer, he jumps on the classic Honda Z50M Monkey Bike and rides away. The minibike is soon substituted by a larger Honda Super Cub scooter.

By the time the TRX450R ATV comes in, it's clear where this commercial is going. With every new vehicle that pops up on the screen, we're being shown important pieces of Honda's legacy. They're all fragments of a dream that once seemed impossible, but materialized over decades of hard work and commitment.

The first car to appear in the video is the classic Honda S500 convertible, the forefather of the S2000. After the next transition, the singing man is passing through a small town on a Honda Goldwing, a brand name that has been around for almost 50 years now.

A difficult start at Isle of Man in 1959 for racing on two wheels did not discourage Soichiro Honda. And the next motorcycle to be featured in this commercial is the World Championship-winning 2RC143, a bike that would signal Honda's rise and dominance in the sport.

Of course, the S2000 and the NSX-R were both used in this ad, and let's not forget that Gordon Murray stated he used the NSX as an inspiration for the McLaren F1! The video becomes more and more intense, as the modern Fireblade appears on the screen right before two Formula1 cars from different eras.

And when you think there are no more surprises next, you get a reminder that Honda is not all about cars and motorcycles. We see the actor racing the Honda powerboat at full speed towards the Iguazu Falls in South America, which will have you holding on to the side of your seat.

But he emerges out of the mist unscathed in a Honda-branded hot air balloon and the echoes of the last verse are simply unforgettable: "To reach the unreachable star." By the time it's over, you don't even realize you've watched a commercial. This is just Grade-A cinematography, and it sums up Soichiro Honda's dream in a pure, almost mystical fashion.

It's no wonder that five years later, a second version appeared. With 30 more seconds added, this edition brought in several other technical wonders such as the ASIMO robot, the CR-Z hybrid, the HA-420 HondaJet, and the VFR1200 motorcycle. For anyone that is a big Honda fan, the Impossible Dream is one of the best automotive commercials ever created by man. Not only that, but it also serves as an inspiration to anyone looking to achieve greatness.