Need to express speed in your advert? Use a sports car… being passed by a cyclist (+ video)

Hollywood director Paul W S Anderson said he wanted to redefine ‘fast’ in his new advert for William Hill. This was achieved by depicting a sports car trapped in traffic being passed by a cyclist – the kind of event that the ad is keen to label as being ‘clever fast’.

“These days everything is fast, and fast is everything,” says the voiceover. “Fast news. Fast food. Fast delivery. Fast dating. Too fast for words. But today's fast needs to be clever fast.”

The final line is punctuated by the cyclist passing the frustrated motorist. The driver decides against doing a Grayling and instead settles for briefly looking a bit vexed behind his designer sunglasses. The cyclist ploughs on between stationary rows of cars.

It’s all about how fast the William Hill app is supposed to be.

BikeBiz reports that the concept was developed by the bookmaker and then fleshed out by creative agency, Bark & Bite before being produced by Mob Sport. Anderson – who is best-known for a string of sci-fi films, including Event Horizon, Alien vs Predator and Resident Evil – was brought in to direct.

Anderson said it was some of the best-looking footage he’d ever shot – although he did make that comment in a short ‘making of’ video that is basically an ad for the ad, so probably safe to assume it’s an exaggeration/outright lie.