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HOT WHEELS FOR REAL | BRAND PLATFORM

"Hot Wheels For Real" is the brand platform that successfully transformed a toy car brand into an action sports & lifestyle brand, by living between the worlds of reality (each die-cast car is designed to 1:64 scale of a real car) and imagination (the limitless play patterns and creativity of a kids imagination when playing with Hot Wheels cars).

DIRECTOR: MIKE "MOUSE" MCCOY | AGENCY: MISTRESS, VENICE

AWARDS: 
Cannes Lion | Branded Content — Gold
Cannes Lion | Promo & Activation — Silver
D&AD Pencil | Integrated & Earned Media — Graphite
Clio | Branded Entertainment & Content — Gold
Clio | Content & Contact — Gold
Clio | Integrated Campaign — Bronze
One Show | Non-Broadcast Short Form — Bronze
One Show | Non-Broadcast Long Form — Bronze
Andy | Branded Content — Gold
Hollywood A-List | Branded Entertainment — Gold
Hollywood A-List | Branded Content — Bronze
Guinness World Record | X Games Double Loop
Guinness World Record | 92' Corkscrew Jump

Distributed to 204 countries. 
Over 67 million organic views. 
Over 3 billion media impressions. 
One of YouTube's top organic viral campaigns for 2012.
No traditional advertising.

Guinness World Record | Double Loop

On June 30, 2012, an episode of the Team Hot Wheels fictitious storyline crossed into a real life activation at the 2012 X Games in downtown LA.

The 66-foot-high Hot Wheels Double Loop became not only the talk of the X Games, but also its most anticipated event as two of Hot Wheels best drivers broke a Guinness World Record by racing 64:1 scale versions of die-cast toy cars into our massive 6-story loop. 

TESTING THE LOOP

One of the major concerns we encountered before attempting the stunt was how the drivers would react to the 7 Gs of force they would experience inside the loop, the same force endured by military fighter pilots. In the weeks leading up to the event, our elite drivers (Tanner Foust & Greg Tracy) took to the air to train like pilots, getting their bodies acclimated to the intense G forces.

Now that the physical limits of the drivers were tested, it was time to test the loop. A special computer operated drone was engineered for the stunt. However, the drone crashed in nearly all its attempts—finally rendering it completely totaled. Determined not to have his world record attempt jeopardized by a computer, Green Team driver, Greg Tracy stepped-up and put his destiny in his own hands. Greg hopped behind the wheel and proved to the world that there's no substitute for a well trained driver. 

DIRECTOR: MIKE "MOUSE" MCCOY | AGENCY: MISTRESS, VENICE

THE DOUBLE LOOP EVENT

While the live coverage of our event was broadcast on ESPN, our Hot Wheels coverage was cut live in the back of a mobile editing bay from a parking lot at the X Games. Our coverage was posted online within an hour of the event. No time to celebrate!

DARE TO DREAM DOCUMENTARY

This mini-documentary tells the story of why we did what we did for Hot Wheels. Why we dared to push the limits. Why we believed in bringing childhood dreams to life. As told by the VP of design at Mattel. 

DOUBLE LOOP ON SPORT SCIENCE

ESPN Sport Science did a piece breaking down the physics that went into the Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare.

Guinness World Record | Corkscrew Jump

Coming on the heels of our second world record, the 2012 Hot Wheels season came to a close by taking a run at the long-standing corkscrew jump World Record. The corkscrew jump is considered the most difficult car stunt ever performed. The previous record distance was 52', set in 1974 on the set of the James Bond film "The Man With The Golden Gun." 

A life-sized buggy and custom corkscrew ramp were meticulously engineered and put through a series of rigorous tests at the Hot Wheels Test Facility. After 19 practice attempts into a stack of 3,000 boxes, our driver (Brent Fletcher) was ready to make history.

CORKSCREW JUMP 

The jump became Hot Wheels 3rd Word Record, shattering the previous record by measuring a distance of 92'. The jump garnered over 6 million views on YouTube, earning millions of free global media impressions for the brand, making it the 17th most viewed ad on YouTube.

PRESS

PRESS DOUBLE LOOP DARE
• USA Today: Hot Wheels duo set record with 'Double Loop Dare'
• ABC News: Hot Wheels Challenge Sets World Record
• The Guardian: Life-size Hot Wheels set Guinness world record
• ESPN: Hot Wheels Double Loop success
• Forbes: Keeping You In The Loop: A Fun Hot Wheels Idea
• Los Angeles Times: Duo sets world record with Hot Wheels double-loop dare
• Discovery: World Record Set on Real Life, 66-Foot Tall, Hot Wheels Double ...
• Wired: Giant Hot Wheels Track With Double Vertical Loop and Real Race Car...
• Wired: Stunt Drivers Survive Double Dare Loop, Cars Less Fortunate
• Huffington Post: Hot Wheels Double Loop Dare Breaks World Record 
• Huffington Post: Hot Wheels Tracks Take Over Downtown LA
• AdWeek: Cars Drive Upside Down in Latest Crazy Real-Life Hot Wheels Stunt 
• Dailymail: Hot Wheels drivers shatter world records defying gravity...
• Mattel: Team Hot Wheels™ Lands Guinness World Records® Title
• Guinness World Record: Loop record set on incredible life-sized Hot Wheels...

PRESS CORKSCREW
• Fox News: Hot Wheels sets corkscrew jump world record
• DailyMail: Real-life Hot Wheels as daredevil recreates 92ft corkscrew jump
• MSN News: Insane driver aces real life Hot Wheels corkscrew jump
• Yahoo News: Hot Wheels sets a real-life record for a corkscrew jump in a car
• The Sun: Driving daredevil doesn’t screw it up
• Business Insider: Watch A Real Life Hot Wheels Car Land 92-Foot A Huge...
• Wired: Your Hot Wheels Childhood Dream Comes to Life
• Adweek: Hot Wheels Breaks Corkscrew Jump Record in Latest Crazy Stunt 
• ESPN: Stunt sets corkscrew jump record
• TAXI: Hot Wheels Breaks Record 

THE WORLD'S BEST DRIVER FILM 

In 2013 Hot Wheels evolved from a toy brand to a global entertainment property. For the first time the best drivers from Team Hot Wheels raced head-to-head against each other. The race was documented and turned into a 22-min film that was broadcast to 144 countries, and translated into 33 languages.

DIRECTOR: MIKE "MOUSE" MCCOY | AGENCY: MISTRESS, VENICE

INTERACTIVE MAP & LEADERBOARD

Drawing from the world of video games, race progress could be tracked online via an interactive map, displaying each of the race zones and the driver positions inside them, while the leaderboard displayed driver rankings as they progressed.

A NEW BREED OF VEHICLE IS BORN

The "WBD" race required us to engineer and design a new fleet of Hot Wheels vehicles. Vehicles that could perform across a variety of challenging terrains. Out of these new vehicles, The Rippers were the most versatile. We put them to the test across sand, snow, and mud. Both on and off road. To tease these new vehicles we gave the fans a sneak at our test footage inside the Hot Wheels Test Facility.

THE BACKFLIP STUNT 

The race for the World's Best Driver ends with a backflip off orange track, the final obstacle before crossing the finish line. Completing this stunt took months of training. However, the real story was not the stunt, it was the driver performing it. World record holder and decorated X Games gold medalist, Ronnie Renner stepped-up to be our driver. A legend in the world of FMX Freestyle Motocross, had performed countless backflips on a bike, but this time he would have his skill tested behind the wheel of a Hot Wheels vehicle. 

THE HOT WHEELS GLOW-IN-THE-DARK CAMARO

The 2013 season of content also brought an exciting partnership between Chevy and Hot Wheels. Creating a limited run of real Hot Wheels vehicles. All 1,500 of them sold out in just three months. For our content we created a special edition design of our own, a unique glow-in-the-dark Camaro. 

WORLD'S BEST DRIVER VIDEO GAME 

Our World's Best Driver content was then adapted to a cross platform video game. We worked closely with the programers to match the look and feel of our content. 

BEHIND THE SCENES ONLINE CONTENT 

Released in conjunction with our WBD film, a suite of behind the scenes videos were released, featuring bonus content, celebrity guests from the world of motorsports, and a deeper look into how each episode was made. The series was hosted by pro BMX star (and Team Hot Wheels Red driver) Aaron Ross.

DIRECTOR: KENN MACRAE | AGENCY: MISTRESS, VENICE