Steven Spielberg made one of his first directing marks with a TV movie called Duel, in which a truck being driven by an unseen assailant relentlessly pursues actor Dennis Weaver in his car for no apparent reason. Now, within the confines of a :30 for the Kia Rio automobile, we find another strange chase, this time with an unlikely "vehicle" in hot pursuit of a man in his car.
The spot opens on the man removing his groceries from a shopping cart and placing them in the hatchback trunk of his Kia Rio. He then gives the empty shopping cart a nasty push, sending it careening through the parking lot and toppling over onto its side. We see its wobbly wheel rotate helplessly as the man jumps into his car and takes off.
But as it turns out, hell hath no fury like a shopping cart scorned. The man is motoring down the countryside road in his Kia, enjoying the ride, when suddenly the serenity is broken, and out of nowhere the vengeful shopping cart—wobbly wheel and all—appears in hot pursuit. As it gains ground, the squeaking of the cart’s loose wheel adds to the ominous yet comic feel of the situation.
The man spies the unsettling sight of the fast moving cart in his rearview mirror. After getting over his shock, he puts the pedal to the metal and leaves the cart far behind. With a rearview mirror reflection of totally open road, the man lets loose a sigh of relief.
Then, amazingly, the cart appears straight ahead, perched in the middle of the road. The driver swerves to avoid the cart—and the pursuit is on again. This time, the driver cannot elude the cart simply by ratcheting up the speed. Instead, some fancy maneuvering is required, as he navigates his Rio along the road’s curves. Finally, the driver makes a sharp, jutting turn to avoid a precipice, and the shopping cart, unable to stop its momentum, flies off the edge of the cliff.
The driver stops his car as a fiery explosion appears in the background—clearly resulting from the shopping cart’s crash into the canyon. The ball of fire, which plays for tongue-in-cheek laughs, gives way to a super which reads, "Kia Rio RX-V," with an accompanying voiceover: "The Kia Rio. Never a dull moment."
The spot then returns to the man in his Rio, who drives away from the scene. Unbeknownst to the driver, however, the tiny, never-say-die squeaky wheel, still on fire, appears on the road to resume the chase, as the commercial concludes.
Entitled "Shopping Cart," this :30 was directed by Nick Piper via Produce Film Co., Toronto. (Piper is represented in the U.S. by Backyard Productions, Venice, Calif., and Chicago.) Agency was Publicis, Toronto.
The Publicis creative ensemble consisted of executive creative director/art director Duncan Bruce, creative director/copywriter Pat Pirisi and producer Angela Carroll.
Madelaine Atkins and Sean Hobbs served as executive producer and producer, respectively, for Produce Film Co. The DP was Simon Mestel.
David Baxter of Panic & Bob, Toronto, edited the spot. Steve Mottershead of Axyz, Toronto, was visual effects artist/compositor. Audio mixer/sound designer/ composer/arranger was Steve MacKinnon of Rosnick MacKinnon Webster, Toronto, with Ted Rosnick producing.
The principal actor in this spot was Jason Belleville. The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or e-mailed.
