Mazda - Better, Stronger, Smarter - (2012) :60

The crossover vehicle is still trying to figure itself out - is it a large car? A small SUV? Something in between? jumP LA Editor Patrick Griffin, working with Smuggler Director Filip Engstrom and The Mill, tackles this riddle in a humorous and engaging story of a spot introducing Mazda's new CX-5 crossover.

Better, Stronger, Smarter, borrowing music from and paying visual homage to 1970s hit TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, opens on a beaten-up jalopy sailing across the desert, its multi-colored doors falling off and tumbling into the dust trail behind it. As the hood pops off in a geyser of sparks and the dumbfounded driver pulls the gear shift right off the frame, the narrator assails the current generation of crossovers as a mish-mosh of compromises that have created vehicles suitable for nobody.

Shift scenes to Mazda's state-of-the-art labs, where an armada of white suit coats labors tirelessly to create the CX-5. Griffin delivers a parade of images portraying the staff at work behind elaborate testing machines, clocks, gauges, and giant computer screens, until they kick out their new creation, a "crossover without compromise."

"I was a huge fan of the Six Million Dollar Man growing up, so it was really fun for me to cut this spot," noted Griffin. "The biggest challenge we faced here was cutting all the funny footage that Filip shot down to a coherent 60."

Client: Mazda of North America
Spot Title: Better, Stronger, Smarter
Air Date: April 2012

Agency: The Garage Team Mazda
Chief Creative Officer: Harvey Marco
CD/Copywriter: Napper Tandy
CD/Art Director: Dino Spadaveccia
Art Director: Aaron Onsurez
Copywriter: Owen Flint
Director of Integrated Production: Jamil Bardowell
Producer: Brandon Boerner

Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Filip Engstrom
Director of Photography: Par Ekberg
EP: Laura Thoel
Producer: Kendall Henry

Editorial: jumP LA
Editor: Patrick Griffin
Assistant Editor: Keith Hamm
EP: Betsy Beale
Producer: Gavin Carroll

Visual Effects: The Mill LA