Renault Launches 'The Megane Experiment' Campaign

The British division of Renault announced today the launch of a new advertising campaign designed to promote the Megane, which is dubbed ‘The Megane Experiment.’ The campaign includes a video that shows an actor named Claude who goes to Gisburn, Lancashire where there are no Meganes, and convinces villagers he is a ‘joie de vivre’ expert from Menton, Côte d’Azur, France, where there are many such models.

Over the course of the week, he calls a meeting to explain that villages and towns with more Meganes have higher fertility rates, teaches the meaning of ‘joie de vivre’ to the primary school, gets interviewed by a member of the local Press and, finally, puts on the ‘Festival de Joie’ on the local playing fields.

“The film was directed by Oscar-nominated director Henry-Alex Rubin, who shot 48 hours of film over five days and described Claude as a "French Borat with a heart." Over the course of the shoot, the actor offered raffle tickets in exchange for test drives in his Megane, which he gives away at the ‘Festival de Joie’. Despite taking place in the rain, it still attracted an impressive 300 locals, from its total population of only 500,” a company statement reads.

The campaign will comprise TV, cinema, national press and digital advertising, a special dedicated website, as well as social media activity on sites including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

”We wanted a campaign which broke from the norm, so a humorous,  lighthearted Anglo-French cultural comparison of two such distinct villages works well for our brand. The Megane is an iconic symbol of French ‘joie de vivre’ and we’re hopeful that getting more of them on the road over here will not just bring a little more happiness to the residents of Gisburn, but also  the rest of Britain too,” said Phil York, Marketing Director, Renault UK.