Motor Oil as Hero in New Castrol EDGE Commercial from Ogilvy First Global Campaign for Brand

A hyper-realized product demonstration transforms newly reformulated Castrol EDGE motor oil into an animated super hero that flows through the toughest challenges a car engine endures to deliver on the promise that it is “Tested to Perfection.”

To show the rigors that went into formulating and testing the new Castrol EDGE, the Ogilvy team in partnership with production, animation and design studio Psyop, created the ultimate test track with the purpose of pushing the performance of the oil to its limits. The track was designed to show what happens when the oil passes through three tests -- Loop, Camshaft and Forest.

“Castrol EDGE is a high-tech product for this category, featuring Titanium Fluid Strength Technology that adapts to the needs of your engine and strengthens performance, no matter how you drive,” explained Melanie Smith, Marketing Director. “The new work by Ogilvy supports our legacy of innovation and gives us an opportunity to launch the first truly global effort to support the brand.”

The new campaign features television, online and print elements. It is currently running in the US and will roll out in Europe, Latin America and Asia over the next several months.

“There are a lot of spots that show performance through tough driving scenarios, but the challenge to actually show Titanium Fluid Strength Technology inspired us to make the oil itself the hero and to create a simulation of the test process of amazing scale and drama,” explained Sung Chang, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy. His partner, Creative Director Craig Mannion added that “The intention was to approach the design of the track in the same manner in which Castrol Engineers create Castrol Edge - with the sole purpose to push the oil to its limits.”

Ogilvy turned to digital animation and film specialists at Psyop to bring their vision of the ultimate test track to life. Psyop’s team under creative directors Eben Mears, Anh Vu and technical director Tony Barbieri wanted to make the track look realistic while having to animate the main character – the motor oil.

In explaining the process, Psyop Creative Director Eben Mears said, “We took the direction of total reality, in terms of shooting film and made everything appear real and possible, and blended in a hint of sci-fi to break the literal constraints of imagination. It felt a bit like a video game, where challenges arise and obstacles pop up, but it was vital that everything appear on first glance as if in a real, possible environment.”

Project: Castrol Tested to Perfection
Spot title: Tested to Perfection

Client Company: Castrol Limited

Agency: Ogilvy and Mather NY
Executive Creative: Director Sung Chang
Creative Director: Craig Mannion
Art Director: Andreas Hoff
Art Director: Lukas Lund
Executive Producer: Melanie Baublis
Associate Producer: Dave Lambert
Managing Director: Kurt Lundberg
Marketing Director: Al DeDona

Production Company: Psyop / Smuggler
Director: Psyop
Psyop Creative Directors: Eben Mears, Anh Tuyet Vu
Psyop Executive Producer: Lydia Holness
Psyop Producer: Crystal Campbell
Psyop Assistant Producer: Justin Romero
Smuggler Executive Producer/Partner: Patrick Milling Smith
Smuggler Executive Producer/Partner: Brian Carmody
Smuggler Executive Producer/COO: Lisa Rich
Smuggler Executive Producers: Allison Kunzman, Laura Thoel
Smuggler Live action producer: Michael Schlenker
Director of Photography: Linus Sandgren
VFX Supervisors: Joerg Liebold, Jamie Scott
Designers: Anh Tuyet Vu, Jordan Taylor, Tae Kim, Jon Saunders
Editor: Cass Vanini
Storyboard: Artist Ben Chan
Cobra Commander: Tony Barbieri
Previz: Jae Ham, Gooshun Wang, Jason Vega, Chris Santioanni
Modeling: Anthony Patti, Alek Vacura, Dan Fine, Tony Jung, Jordan Harvey Entae Kim and Ihsu Yoon
Rigging: Jordan Harvey and Zed Bennett
Animation: Gooshun Wang, Jae Ham, Eban Byrne, Pat Porter, Michael Shin
VFX: Miguel Salek, Eban Byrne, Todd Akita
Lighting Team: Anthony Patti, Cody Chen, Jeff Chavez, Denis Kozyrev, Aaron Baker, Dan Gregoras and Russ Wooton, Alvin Bae, Entae Kim
Lighting Pipeline Technical Director: Jonah Friedman
Lead Tracking: Joerg Liebold
Tracking: Bogdan Mihajlovic
Lead Compositor Jamie Scott
Compositors Nick Tanner, Adam Flynn, Kirk Balden
Roto Filaments

Live Action Company: Goodgate
Executive Producer: Philip Bolus
Producer: Gordan MacKinnon

Telecine Company: Smoke and Mirrors
Colorist: Ben Eagleton

Music: Q Department
Producers: Kelly Fulton, Peter Gannon

Sound Design Company: Jafbox Sound
Sound Designer: Joseph Fraioli
Executive Producer: Joseph Fraioli

Sound Mix: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Phil Loeb