By Christine Champagne

Buyer beware: Counterfeit MINI Coopers are flooding the marketplace. That’s the warning issued in “Counterfeit MINIs” (:60), a spot created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B), Miami, and directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man.

A cross between late-night infomercials and those revealing undercover exposés you see on programs like Dateline NBC and 20/20, “Counterfeit MINIs” purports that unsuspecting consumers are being duped into buying faux MINIs, depicting everything from the overseas chop shops where these fakes are made to a humiliated man who bought one for $1,200 only to discover that he was duped.

Of course, none of this is true, and most viewers will get the joke despite the fact that the spot plays it straight throughout–even directing consumers to a real Web site, www.counterfeitmini.com, where they can order an actual eight-minute DVD that provides a crash course on how to spot a counterfeit MINI (for more on the DVD, see this week’s iWork ).

 

THE MINI AS ICON

According to CP+B vice president/creative director Andrew Keller, the aim of “Counterfeit MINIs” is to position the MINI Cooper, which has reached iconic status in Great Britain, as an icon in America. But the trick was finding a clever, humorous way to do so that was in line with what Keller called “MINI’s cheeky brand personality.”

While brainstorming, the creatives talked about icons in general and realized that what well-known brands such as Louis Vuitton, Ray-Ban and Rolex have in common is that they are all preyed upon by counterfeiters, which led them to think: Why not counterfeit the Mini?

“In the end, [the spot] really speaks to our unique design and look. Just the fact that someone would go as far as to counterfeit the car is a backwards way of telling you how special the car is,” Keller remarked.

Buckley told SHOOT that he loved the concept for “Counterfeit MINIs” and thoroughly researched the business of counterfeiting before shooting the spot. “We had to be totally authentic to what counterfeiting is in order to spoof it properly,” Buckley reasoned.

As it just so happens, Hungry Man’s New York City office happens to be at the epicenter of the counterfeiting industry. “Canal Street is the capital in the United States–and arguably the world–of counterfeiting,” Buckley shared.

Anyone who has strolled along Canal Street has seen the shops selling everything from fake Gucci sunglasses to knockoff Dooney & Bourke handbags. According to Buckley’s findings, many of these tiny storefronts also serve as distribution hubs, providing counterfeit wares to other parts of the country–and making big money doing so. “I had no idea until I did some research that these little shops are fronts for hundred-million dollar operations,” Buckley said.

Armed with knowledge of the counterfeiting industry, Buckley and DP Scott Hendrickson traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they shot “Counterfeit MINIs” (as well as other MINI spots and footage for the aforementioned DVD) over the course of six, 16-hour days.

Buckley said he and Hendrickson took a “guerilla-style approach” to the project, shooting on 8mm, 16mm and video at various locations chosen for their authenticity, including a crowded marketplace where the crew set up fake stands of their own, as well as a real chop shop located in the same notorious slums where the feature film City of God was shot.

A mix of real people and actors were used in the spot. But the real stars were the cars themselves. Production designer Gualter Pupo scoured the city and neighboring areas for big old American cars such as the Buick Riviera and smaller cars like the Fiat, then had them detailed to look like MINIs at a body shop.

Along the way, one of the fake MINIs was almost lost. “There was a truck that was filled with boxes and a fake MINI that got hijacked on the way to the last location,” Buckley revealed. “I think [the hijackers] thought it was going to be the truck filled with real MINIs. When they saw he had a counterfeit, they let the guy go [unharmed].”

Aside from that incident, the shoot went smoothly, according to Buckley.

Once the shoot wrapped, Kirk Baxter, an editor with Rock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles, got to work cutting “Counterfeit MINI.” “He did a really great job on it,” Buckley said. “We shot a ton of film, and we tried so many things. He had a lot to go through.”

    While Buckley was pleased with the final result, so was CP+B and their client, according to Keller. Realizing how timely the spot ultimately proved to be was icing on the cake, Keller shared, explaining, “The day before we launched the spot Business Week came out with a cover that read “Fakes” with two motorcycles on the front [one a fake; one an authentic brand], and the story inside was all about counterfeiting.”

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