As the end of the noughties approached, December 2009 saw a flurry of “Best of the Decade” programmes. As part of this trend, ITV screened an “Ad of the Decade” programme, counting down the greatest 20 TV commercials of the past 10 years.

The countdown featured a rather large proportion of commercials from the past couple of years, but also inevitably, the ever-popular likes of Sony Bravia “Balls”, John West “Bear” and Cadbury’s “Gorilla”.

Amongst this list of the most beloved commercials, in at number 12, was Euro RSCG’s Citroën “Carbot”.

To be in a list which such fantastic work was a great achievement. It proves the longevity of the campaign and the affinity that people still have with Citroën’s “Carbot”, 5 years after its initial launch. Even Kym March (remember her from Hear’Say, now Corrie) is a big fan.

The “Carbot” was born out of the strategic thought that the Citroën C4 was “Alive With Technology”. It led to a creative idea so different and unexpected, that it quickly became clear it would generate excitement, noise, discussion and fame. It was a piece of ‘entertainment’ rather than just advertising.

As the clip on ITV’s programme showed, every element of the commercial was thought about in excruciating detail. Justin Timberlake’s choreographer was filmed to give us an amazing dance routine, which was then recreated for the robot, using cutting edge CGI. The soundtrack of ‘Les Rythmes Digitales’ was chosen to give the creative fame in the pop world.

The director of the commercial, Neil Blomkamp, has since found fame in Hollywood and last year directed the Peter Jackson produced, District 9.

The “Carbot” gave us a fantastically original and versatile ‘vehicle’ for demonstrating the characteristics of the car. It also provided an idea that was ownable and created a long-term positioning that consumers really responded to, as proven by its inclusion in ITV’s “Ads of the Decade”.

Seb