This week, Turtle Wax, the legendary Lombard-based car care brand, rolled out You Are How You Car, a surreal and stylized global campaign that repositions car pride as a reflection of self-pride. And it does so with gleaming polish, a twisted sense of humor, and yes – human faces on cars.
Created by indie agency Running Toward Giants, the campaign blends high-concept visuals with metaphor-rich storytelling. Two standout TV spots, “Face It” and “Pamper,” kick off the platform in the U.S., U.K., and India. Both ads lean into the strange and visually addictive territory, merging human expressions with car bodies to explore how people see themselves in their vehicles — literally.
In Face It, viewers come bumper-to-bumper with their “car-selves.” Using VFX wizardry from Ntropic and Not Just Any, the spot features CG human faces flawlessly integrated into car hoods and grilles. It’s weird. It’s wonderful. And it captures that transformational moment when grime turns to gleam, and self-image gets a turbo boost.
Meanwhile, Pamper reimagines a full detail job as a lush spa treatment — each wipe, buff, and polish depicted like a facial or mud mask. It’s car care as self-care, because nothing says “I’ve got my life together” quite like water beading off a freshly waxed fender.
“For nearly 80 years, Turtle Wax has helped people bring out the best in their cars — and in the process, brought out something deeper about the person behind the wheel: pride, confidence, and a little swagger,” said Daren Herbert, CMO of Turtle Wax. “This campaign is for the ones who care — and for anyone who just needs a little motivation to start.”
This latest brand platform is grounded in fresh consumer research: 75% of American drivers say they want their vehicle to reflect the best version of themselves, yet only 18% feel like it actually does. You Are How You Car™ taps into that delta between aspiration and reality — and uses humor, metaphor, and top-shelf VFX to close the gap.
“This isn’t your typical automotive industry creative concept,” added Jeremy Bersano, ECD at Running Toward Giants. “We got to reintroduce an iconic brand as something metaphorical, magical, and weirdly wonderful. The result? Cars with faces, and a campaign you can’t look away from.”
The campaign also includes social cutdowns, audio, digital, OOH, and retail extensions — not to mention a clever sweepstakes launching later this month. U.S. fans are invited to imagine their “car-self” and submit a visual interpretation (drawing, sculpture, AI image, you name it). Ten lucky winners will get a custom Turtle Wax bobblehead — their actual face reimagined onto a car body. Because why not?
In a category often dominated by function-first messaging, You Are How You Car™ reminds us that pride matters — and that even if your car isn’t a supercar, it can still be super you.
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