Who doesn’t love Bill Nye, the Science Guy? Porsche certainly does, as the luxury brand has tapped Nye for a five-part web series explaining the engineering of the battery electric Taycan. Launching today, the project is aptly titled “Bill Nye Explains the All-Electric Taycan.”
This is a fast follow to last month’s “Going the Distance” 8-minute film with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter enjoying a buddy trip, with built-in challenges, that showcased the performance of the brand’s first electric sports car.
The series (created by C-K) highlights what sets the Taycan apart – its 800-volt battery, clever aerodynamics, regenerative breaking, two-speed transmission and repeatable performance. Using simple terms, Nye breaks down these complex topics, making the science and innovative engineering behind the Taycan accessible.
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Behind the Scenes
Reel Chicago had a chance to speak with C-K VP Creative Director, Conn Newton, briefly about the work.
How did the idea to use Bill Nye develop?
There are dozens of never-been-in-a-car-before innovations in the Taycan. They’re cool, but kinda complicated. We thought, who better to explain this stuff than the guy who has made his name explaining stuff? Plus, Bill Nye has been an electric car advocate for years, so it just kind of clicked.
What was it like to work with him? Did he bring the science to the work?
Awesomely delightful. We were all beaming. Even on early calls he was taking books off his shelf and explaining aerodynamics to us. Enthusiasm for science just pours out of him. He definitely brought the Bill Nye touch. The films came together through a process of workshopping the scripts with Bill, the product team, and the creatives. Bill’s years of putting scientific principles into terms people can easily understand, and his sense of humor, came in very handy.
The creative effort continues Porsche’s push to entertain while educating consumers about the Taycan as consumer interest and market share in battery electric vehicles (BEV) continue to grow. And that makes this work our Reel Ad of the Week.
CREDITS:
CLIENT: Porsche Cars North America
AGENCY: Cramer-Krasselt
- CCO: Marshall Ross
- ECD: G. Andrew Meyer
- Creative Director: Conn Newton, Rick Standley
- Executive Producer: Scott McBurnie
- Producer: Katie Green
- SVP, GAD: Chris Hanley
- VP, Account Supervisor: Ashley Stevens
- Campaign Management: Mindy Kerns
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Moxie
- Director: Martin Granger
- Line Producer: Heidi Soltesz
- Exec Producer: Karol Zeno
EDIT: Whitehouse
- Editor: Josh Bodnar
- Producer: Lucia Villalta
- Head of Production: Jojo Scheerer
DESIGN & ANIMATION: SCHOLAR
- Creative Director(s): Dennis Go
- Managing Director / E.P.: Jo Arghiris
- Executive Producer: Nic Barnes
- Head of Production: Ryan Mclaughin
- Sr Producer: Aleem Kim
- Assoc Producer: Tommy Petroskey
- Designers: Dennis Go, Helen Slavutsky, Connie Van, Abigail Goh
- 2D Animators: Zach Herdman
- Cel Animators: Connie Van, Will Pittas
- 3D Animators/Previz: Zach Herdman
- Flame Artist: Marc Goldfine
- Editor: Dominic Strazulo
TELECINE: CARBON VFX
Colorist: Julien Biard
AUDIO: Another Country
- Engineer: Jordan Stalling
- Audio Assistant: Josh Hunnicutt
- Exec Producer: Tim Konn
