Honda Tells Toy Story to Support 2015 Honda CR-V and Friends

With the holiday season apparently upon us, Honda is kicking off its annual year-end sales blowout with an appropriately themed ad campaign that pairs new-gen models like the 2015 Honda CR-V with old-fashioned toys like Skeletor—arch-enemy of He-Man, from Masters of the Universe.

Along with Skeletor exulting over the 2015 Honda CR-V, the campaign also features:

• Two spots for the Civic, one with Jem and G.I. Joe, the second starring Gumby and Pokey
• Strawberry Shortcake—and Blueberry Muffin and Orange Blossom—for the Honda Pilot and Odyssey
• Honda Accord commercials with Stretch Armstrong and the Fisher-Price "Little People"

Honda also reports that it used original dolls/action figures for each spot, along with stop-motion animation to  "authentically capture how these toys came to life through play."

This will, of course, be a full media campaign, with TV placements on shows like “Survivor” and “The Mindy Project,” as well as digital, print, point-of-purchase and radio executions.

Said Susie Rossick, senior manager at American Honda Motor Co., Inc.: "With consumers inundated with holiday ads during the holiday season, our goal is to break through the clutter by helping people relive favorite childhood memories of a toy they loved during the holidays and associating that with a great deal on a new Honda. The Happy Honda Days Sales Event is a terrific opportunity for Honda to cap off a record-setting year, with the Accord, Civic, CR-V and Odyssey also on pace to lead their respective segments in retail sales."

Note: Those records reported by Rossick include some recent ones, too, with the Honda brand, the 2015 Honda CR-V and the 2015 Honda Fit all setting new volume benchmarks in October; that month also marked the second in a row in which the 2015 Honda CR-V led the entire industry in crossover sales.

As for the actual incentives offered by the Happy Honda Days events, those could be changed at any time but do currently include a $0 down program on the Civic, Accord and Pilot.