Italian automobile brand Fiat is saying goodbye to its grey cars in true Italian fashion, painting the town orange and bright. In its latest Operation No Grey campaign with Leo Burnett Italia, Fiat CEO Olivier Francois stars and guides viewers through a detailed explanation of the brand’s new change.
Operation No Grey by Fiat and Leo Burnett Italia
Filmed on-site in the sun-kissed seaside town of Lerici, Italy, Francois strolls down a marine harbour alongside several grey cars. From German grey to Japanese grey, French, and more, grey cars are an easy and safe sell for most car manufacturers.
However, Fiat’s roots are deeply Italian – full of love, colour, passion, life, optimism, and more. None of these attributes are remotely associated with grey, which typically borders on minimalism and coldness.
With that, Fiat shakes up the game with a rule change: no more grey cars. Francois steps into the new Fiat 600, which is hoisted upwards above a giant vat of orange paint. The windows are sealed shut, and the car is gradually lowered into the paint, covering the entire vehicle in a bright shade of orange.
Every aspect of the car is now a vibrant orange, from wheels and rims to the undercarriage and headlights. As an undeniably Italian and upbeat track plays in the background, Francois lowers the window and smiles at the camera with a thumbs up.
As the now-orange car fills the frame, accompanying text at the bottom of the screen says, “From June Fiat will no longer produce grey cars”. The camera pans out to a scenic view of Lerici. With colourful buildings, warm skies, and boats in the harbour, Fiat’s orange car is perfectly at home with its surroundings.
Closing with “Italy, the land of colours. Fiat, the brand of colours”, Fiat’s campaign video delivers their message in remarkable fashion. As Operation No Grey goes underway, the brand hopes to embody the Italian way of living and reaffirm its new Dolce Vita value.
