We don’t often cover advertisements here on Just British, but this one for the new Land Rover Discovery is kind of fun.
In the ad, Olympic hero Sir Ben Ainslie battles a desert sandstorm to reach his Land Rover BAR sailing team. The 60-second advert was directed by Ridley Scott Associates’ Jake Scott and will be aired for the first time in the UK during the break of ITV’s coverage of the RBS Six Nations’ game between Ireland and Italy, at 2pm local time on Saturday 11 February. Later that day, on the same channel, the advert will be shown again during The Voice at 8pm local time. It celebrates the new Discovery going on sale in the UK with prices from £43,495.
The spot captures Sir Ben as he maneuvers his way through an epic sandstorm in the new Discovery. Huge clouds of sand swirl around him as he effortlessly handles the vehicle, turning sharply and avoiding trees to finally meet his team-mates at the storm’s edge. They then head to the marina to hit the water in their specially designed America’s Cup boat, a multi-hull catamaran designed with support from Land Rover’s engineers.
Director Scott uses the shimmering violins and horn of Johann Strauss II’s Blue Danube waltz to convey the robust, yet nimble, capability of the new Discovery. The advert also shows the seven-strong crew demonstrating the vehicle’s Intelligent Seat Fold technology, which allows owners to configure the versatile seating through a dedicated app on their smartphone from anywhere in the world.
The Land Rover BAR sailors are honoured to feature in the new Land Rover Discovery TV campaign. It was the first time the team had been involved in a production like this. It was a lot of fun, and we were really taken outside of our ‘normal’ environment for the shoot, seeing it come together on screen is a real moment for us.
We partnered with Land Rover in our bid to bring the Cup home, because they are a great British brand, and a fantastic engineering and technology business sharing a belief in the importance of design and innovation. The new Discovery showcases remarkable technology while also being a great family car – something I am much more aware of these days – that will even take my whole extended ‘sailing’ family of seven big guys!
— Sir Ben Ainslie – Land Rover BAR Team Principal and Skipper
Note: Press release courtesy Land Rover UK.
