The latest offering from high-end jeweler, Cartier, is really more of a cinematic short than an ad. It has sweeping vistas from around the world, a beautiful score recorded at Abbey Road studios, astoundingly gorgeous cinematography, dazzling special effects and a compelling plot – even if you're not sure what is going on.
The Odyssey of Cartier starts when a jewel encrusted panther shatters to reveal a real panther within. We follow this panther on an incredible journey that spans the globe over breath-taking vistas and through all sorts of flights of fantasy. We see giant rings rolling on mountainous snow cliffs. There's a golden Chinese dragon that becomes the Great Wall. We enter a hidden realm of all sorts of living jewel creatures. We visit a beautiful Indian palace that is perched upon the head of a colossal elephant. We see a paper flying machine and French splendor.
But the locations and vistas weren't chosen at random. Each place represents a significant place or moment in the brands journey through time from past to present. In the behind the scenes bonus feature, the explain that, even with all the special effects they wanted to shoot a real panther to capture the beauty and grace that only the real animal could possess. To their knowledge it was the first time a leopard was ever filmed running in the snow. It may have that perfume ad "what the heck was that about" vibe to it, but it's beautiful and compelling and has incredible production values. Watch the video below and if you want the behind the scene bonus features go here.
Cartier – L'Odyssee de Cartier
That's it for this week. Thanks to Bethany Schafer for bringing this ad to our attention with a tweet to @TheYaffeGroup. If you have a suggestion, let us know here in the comment section or send an email to info@yaffe.com or let us know through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or wherever you happen to find us.
Mike McClure, Exec Creative Director & Social Media guy
Very nice article, just what I needed.