DieHard Battery vs. The Bullet

Hehehe, and you thought that the Masterlock superbowl ads (1973, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985) were impressive. Diehard just kicked it up a notch by shooting a DieHard Car Battery with a .458 caliber guide rifle. Then starting a pickup truck with the battery. Quite impressive.

Zoo Film director James Frost on "Diehard Battery vs. The Bullet":

When I got involved in the project back in late April, the agency Y&R Chicago, presented me with the ideas they had so far and wanted to get me involved in the creative process, it was quite amazing to be asked to be involved that early on. One of the ideas they had was shooting the battery with a gun. This seemed like something we could immediately test so they could go back to their client and say categorically it worked, or not. What we didn't know was that on our first test, after we shot three different guns (.357 Magnum, .45 caliber handgun and a .31 caliber rifle) using multiple rounds (approx 60 rounds) was the battery would work fine. It was quite simply bonkers. I would not have believed it if I was not actually present.

We all regrouped on the phone, myself, Todd Taber, Jamie Overkamp and Luke Rzewnicki from Y&R to discuss seeing really what the battery could take before it didn't work. This ultimately involved upping the weaponry. We conducted a second test with much higher caliber weapons and this included the .458 caliber rifle, AKA the elephant gun. We again went out to the range and used a series of guns from a .457 Magnum to an AK47 to a high-powered sniper rifle. When we shot the elephant gun, which Jason Hamilton my production designer shot, it blew the battery in half. It was an "oh shit" moment, then we hooked it up and it started. It was amazing. So we decided this was our gun.

I wanted the location to feel remote, like the meeting of two minds, the gunman and the engineers, as if they meeting for a sort of duel. A shooting range would have felt too controlled and too claustrophobic, so we chose a remote area in the Mojave Desert where it would take some real effort to get to, not just for the characters but for the crew

Agency: Y&R Chicago
Chief Creative Officer: Ken Erke
Associate Creative Director: Todd Taber
Associate Creative Director: Jamie Overkamp
Head of Production: Brian Smego
Producer: Luke Rzewnicki

Director: James Frost
Production Company: Zoo Film
Executive Producer: Gower Frost
Line Producer: Sam Khazaeni
Director of Photography : Dermott Downs
Production Designer: Jason Hamilton

Experiential Design Company: Syyn Labs

Editorial Company: Optimus, Chicago
Producer: Tracy Spera
Editor: Ruben Vela
Assistant Editor: Jill DiBiase

Colorist: Craig Leffel

Audio Engineer: Joel Anderson
Music: Beta Petrol