Swedish Art Director Creates Epic Used Car Ad

Christoffer Castor of Malmö, Sweden, just bought a new car. Actually, it's a 1968 Volvo 140, which is older than his other car, a 1993 Volvo. He now has to sell the younger car to make room for the older car, because he has only one parking spot. So, what is an art director in need of a sale to do?

"I was going to put it up on 'Blocket' a Swedish "Craigslist" sort of site, but I wanted the ad to 'stand out' a little," Castor told Yahoo in an email. "The ads are always the same with dull text and pics that is not that honest. So I talked with a friend and colleague at work, Christian Svanlund, who's a great cinematographer about doing an kind of movie-trailer-ish ad for my car."

Just two lunch breaks and two nights later, Castor ended up with the most epic used-car sales advertisement ever. The Swedish and English versions have been collectively viewed 350,000 times and counting.

The first version, in Swedish, hit YouTube on May 8. Slow-motion pans and a movie-trailerlike voiceover accompany the nearly 3-minute production. A crew of three, including Castor, worked on the piece. The song "Chasing Dreams" by Cellardore serves as the video soundtrack.

"Do you want to be perceived as rich and cuddly?" asks the voiceover artist, Castor's friend Johan Karlberg. "Of course you do! Then buy my car with your dough."

The Volvo's list of features mix embellished facts with amusingly bizarre lies. In the video, the 245 GL is described as having "an inside and an outside, a curly exhaust, two pieces of black roof sticks ... and Hepatitis B." Also included: four door handles, "a fancy turning crank with a built-in safety platter," and "art" (a sticker that is placed inside the passenger-side door).

"The car is not yet sold, no," Castor said. "It's not that bad; it's a good car!"

The motion graphics designer has yet to receive a solid offer on the vehicle. If you are wondering, the Volvo has 34,000 miles and Castor's asking for around $1,100. It is certainly an inexpensive cost to be perceived rich and cuddly — by most standards at least.