Following up on the success of their e-mail viral campaign for Honda Joy Machine (see Boards, September 2000), Edinburgh Scotland's The Leith Agency has sent out another wave of marketing-inclined MPEGs in support of Honda's portable generator as well as a series of e-mail vids promoting Comic Relief UK.

The new viral spot "Zap" was shot in the South African desert north of Capetown. The clip shows an African man tormented by flies until he straps himself into a bizarre suit constructed from electric fly-zappers, which, as small insects crackle their ways to grisly death, illustrates the portability of the device.

Comic Relief approached The Leith Agency after receiving Honda Civic virals from the Scottish shop. In the name of charity, Honda re-branded several of its more successful viral spots with the message "Honda and Comic Relief say pants to poverty," and provided funding to produce four Comic Relief-specific virals.

Three of the e-spots, "Super Traffic Warden," parts 1, 2 and 3 depict the ongoing battle between a motorist and the traffic cop who incessantly tickets his Honda. In two of the viral spots, the cop wins, emerging from the sewers or shimmying down a rope to ticket the car while the driver has his back turned (paying the automated parking attendant). In "Dummy," the motorist outwits the ticket-happy constable by placing a uniformed mannequin next to his ride.

Lee Hempstock and Chris Landy were the creatives on "Zap," which was directed by Paul Moran and produced by Simon Mallinson of MTP, Glasgow. The comic relief spots were conceived by a number of Leith creatives: Hempstock, Landy, Gareth Howells, Dougal Wilson, Tony Durston, Ash Ward and Darryl McDonald. Again, they worked with MTP Production, with the films optimized for Internet distribution by Dow Carter.

To view the spots, visit www.hondaenergy.co.uk and www.comicrelief.com.

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