To promote the merits of the electric C3 starting at €23,300 excluding bonuses, Citroën has gone all out, evoking the 18th century and subliminally referencing the 1980s. Let’s decode this.
Since June 1st, the brand with the chevrons has been advertising its new versatile 100% electric city car Citroën ë-C3 with a grandiose commercial. The message: "electricity is no longer reserved for the elites", meaning that with a base price of 23,300 € before bonuses, the Citroën ë-C3 is well positioned on the market. However, to stay ahead of the competition, the manufacturer has already promised a version at €19,990 (still before bonuses) by 2025. Everything has been thought of, from the sets to the costumes, worthy of a production from the seventh art.
Cascades like in the 1980s
If the "long" version of the 1 minute 20 second film can be shortened for television, it transports us to the 18th century just before the French Revolution. It can also evoke, for those over 40, the 1980s when car brands didn’t hesitate to stage their vehicles with cascades. At the forty-seventh second, a red ë-C3 leaps over the buffet. It has been a long time since we last saw such a scene in a car advertisement.
A nod to the Visa Diesel…
It reminds us of the Citroën Visa Diesel ad from the 1980s where it flew as low as an airplane. Of course, this new ad cannot go as far as the Citroën Visa GTI catapulted from the aircraft carrier Clémenceau into the ocean before resurfacing on the deck of a submarine. Times have changed.
When thinking of revolution, one might recall the Citroën AX driving on the Great Wall of China in an ad by Jacques Séguéla with the slogan "Revolutionary". Could the cycle be complete? In any case, the return of creativity at Citroën is a cause for celebration after a somewhat dull period that featured Guy Roux with trucks full of stored vehicles.