Michael Bay Liked This Transformers Maaco Tie-In Spot So Much, He Directed It Himself

By Patrick Coffee 

UPDATE: In what is undoubtedly the most important correction you will ever see on this web log, a Michael Bay representative has reached out to us to clarify that the car from Silicon Valley is, in fact, a Lamborghini.

We have been humbled.

*

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Michael Bay is the Cindy Gallop of directing: he blows shit up. Americans and Chinese teenagers love the resulting CGI spectacles more than he likes sports cars and high heels.

He also sometimes directs old fashioned advertisements!

The latest such example is a new spot for auto paint and repair company Maaco, whose 45th anniversary just happens to coincide with the release of Bay’s newest Autobot opus, “Transformers: The Last Knight.”

The company has launched a partnership with the movie in an attempt to reach younger viewers, and here’s the first spot from The Tombras Group of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Megan Fox lookalike? Check. Bro-tastic car? Check. Implications of bad behavior that some will read as general badassery on behalf of “Brad?” Oh hell yes.

See, the people interested in seeing this movie are the same people who might need to get a new paint job. And one can see why Bay (who has to personally approve every ad tied to his movie) liked it enough to take the helm.

“We’ve been transformation specialists for 45 years, so the partnership with “Transformers: The Last Knight” is ideal for us,” said Jason Ryan, President of Maaco. “Consumers of all ages love the heroic action of the Transformers movies, and this provides a way to build new awareness of the Maaco brand. It also provides an excellent new vehicle to reach the millennials as an entirely new generation of customers.”

Here’s the landing page explaining that this promo involves 500 auto body shops, etc.

Dooley Tombras, EVP of The Tombras Group, called this “a unique creative opportunity to work with two iconic brands and explore their shared equity around cars.” And of course it also involved the guy who directed “The Rock.”

Here is an artist’s rendering of what “Brad” might look like.

(And yes, we know this is a Lamborghini*, not a Camaro. Every one of our high school classmates’ older brothers either had a red Camaro or said he was getting one as a graduation present.)

CREDITS

Creative Director: Charlie Andrews
Writer: Jason Brown
Art Director: Brian Feeney
Producer: Charlie Andrews
Editorial: Industry Creative
Finishing Supervision: Wiser Post (LA)
Graphics: Elastic Pictures (Knoxville)
Director: Michael Bay
Music: Auralation Audio, Knoxville
Sound design/mix: NPall Audio, Nashville

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