James Franco and Jaleel White aka Steve Urkel star in Scion’s ‘weird’ spots
Scion’s latest campaign uses a number of quirky characters, including Steve Urkel’s wax figure and a car dealership tube man, to highlight how Scion’s ‘weird’ features actually aren’t that weird at all.
The three spots aim to position Scion as a brand that’s bucking convention in the automobile space by bringing fresh ideas to an industry that often relies on the same-old.
In the cheeky ‘Franco and Franco’ spot (see above), James Franco stars as ‘Hollywood actor’ James Franco driving the Scion iA while ‘experimental artist’ James Franco drives the Scion iM.
“It’s weird someone so complex would drive such a practical car, and that someone who suffers for his art would avoid the pain of the traditional car-buying process,” a narrator says of the two respective characters.
A second spot features Jaleel White as he drives around with the wax figure of the character he played for many years, Steve Urkel. During the video, a voiceover comments on the fact that despite the many differences between the actor and the ‘Family Matters’ figure, the two are both able to enjoy the experience of driving in the 2016 Scion iM because of features like dual zone climate control, which "helps keeps Jaleel from freezing while wax Urkel is stopped from melting."
Another video features a ‘recently liberated car dealership tube man’ who attempts to enjoy the Scion iA’s features – like its back-up camera – even though he can’t turn around.
“It’s weird he’d care about a seven-inch touchscreen display when his hands are in the air like he just don’t,” the voiceover says.
The work is Droga5’s first for the brand, which won Scion’s business earlier this year. According to the agency, it’s the car company’s largest, most extensive campaign in its history.