{{Unreferenced, date=March 2009 Honda's Impossible Dream is a panoramic 2-minute-long television commercial that was launched on 2 December 2005 in the United Kingdom. It anchored the "Power of Dreams" campaign which also included a website with extensive information about the series of vintage Honda vehicles that were chosen to illustrate the dreams of the founder of Honda. It was written by Sean Thompson and Chris Groom and Creative Directed by Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth. It features an actor (

Simon Paisley Day Simon Paisley Day (born 13 April 1967), also credited as Simon Day, is an English stage and screen actor. His most recent work includes ''Timon of Athens'' (2008), ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'' (2009), ''Private Lives'' (2010), ''Twelfth Night'' ...

) singing, riding and driving across the scenic shorelines and roads of New Zealand,

Twin Ring Motegi Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport race track located at Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally named Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the circuit's name came from the facility hav ...

in Japan, and the

Iguazu Falls Iguazú Falls or Iguaçu Falls ( gn, Chororõ Yguasu , es, Cataratas del Iguazú, links=no ; pt, Cataratas do Iguaçu ) are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. ...

in South America.

Plot

A vintage record player starts playing a single, “Impossible Dream" by

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

. A man reaches out for a jacket and crash helmet, and he sets forth from his trailer into a series of vintage Honda vehicles, starting with a diminutive minibike, and ending with a powerboat that leaps off the edge of a waterfall, emerging from the mist as a hot-air balloon with the Honda logo.

Details

The ad was part of a campaign developed by advertising agency

Wieden+Kennedy Wieden+Kennedy (W+K; earlier styled ''Wieden & Kennedy'') is an American independent global advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the l ...

London. Creative directors and contributors included Kim Papworth, Sean Thompson, Chris Groom, Tony Davidson, and agency producer Julia Methold. Director Ivan Zacharias and producer Nick Landon are from the film production company Stink where the ad is hosted. Director of photography was Jan Velicky. Editor was Filip Malasek, from Czech film editing company Robota. The original commercial was altered slightly for the

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

campaign. Flags displaying the

St George's Cross In heraldry, Saint George's Cross, the Cross of Saint George, is a red cross on a white background, which from the Late Middle Ages became associated with Saint George, the military saint, often depicted as a crusader. Associated with the cru ...

were added to most scenes in the advert, such as on the back of the motorcycles and on the caravan shown at the beginning. In addition, the hot air balloon appearing at the end had a large George Cross on it, replacing the "Honda" text. The original advert, together with the England remake cost £4.5 million to produce. A making-of and karaoke version of the video were also made. This commercial was never released in the United States. The original version closed with a message addressed specifically to England, whilst the Australian version closes with a voice-over by

Garrison Keillor Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (; born August 7, 1942) is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show ''A Prairie Home Companion'' (called ''Garrison Keillor's Radio ...

saying "I couldn't have put it better myself" (This is now the standard version used in the United Kingdom). The music is

singing " Impossible Dream (The Quest)" from the album ''16 Most Requested Songs''. The song is from the Don Quixote musical ''

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay ''I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes ...

''. Songwriter Joe Darion won the 1965/66 Tony award for best

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

lyrics. The last verses of the song are omitted to fit in two minutes.

2010 Extended Version

On 25 April 2010, a
extended version
debuted on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Instead of finishing with a hot air balloon, it continues and features a

HondaJet The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is a light business jet produced by the Honda Aircraft Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Original concepts of the aircraft started in 1997 and were completed in 1999. It took its maiden flight on D ...

aeroplane, a

Honda CR-Z The Honda CR-Z is a sport compact hybrid electric automobile manufactured by Honda and marketed as a "sport hybrid coupe." The CR-Z combines a hybrid gasoline-electric powertrain with traditional sports car elements, including a 2+2 seating arran ...

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

, a

VFR1200 The Honda VFR1200F is the 7th generation Honda sport touring motorcycle from the VF and VFR line motorcycles powered by a transverse mounted V4 engine. The VFR1200F has several new technologies including the first dual clutch transmission offe ...

, a

Honda FCX Clarity The Honda Clarity is a nameplate used by Honda on alternative fuel vehicles. It was initially used only on hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles such as the 2008 Honda FCX Clarity, but in 2017 the nameplate was expanded to include the battery-elec ...

hydrogen fuel cell car A hydrogen vehicle is a vehicle that uses hydrogen fuel for motive power. Hydrogen vehicles include hydrogen-fueled space rockets, as well as ships and aircraft. Power is generated by converting the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy ...

, the

Honda ASIMO is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

robot, a Honda SH 125i scooter, and finishes with the subject driving into the garage of a beach house containing a Honda (solar) power generator. Finally the subject sits in a hot tub overlooking the sea. A voice-over (again provided by

) says "What good is dreaming it, if you don't actually do it?" The last verses of the song used are also present in this 150 second version of the commercial.

Awards

* "Television Advertisement of the Year" in the British Television Advertising Awards

Vehicles featured

Listed in order *

Honda Z50M The Honda Z50M was the first Z50 Series of mini bikes produced by Honda. It was first made in late 1966 and released for sale in 1967 to the European, Australian and Canadian markets. History The Z50M was fully equipped with headlight, taillight, ...

Monkey Bike *

Honda Super Cub The Honda Super Cub or Honda Cub is a Honda underbone motorcycle with a four-stroke single-cylinder engine ranging in displacement from . In continuous manufacture since 1958 with production surpassing 60 million in 2008, 87 million in 2014, an ...

scooter *

Honda TRX450R The TRX 450R is high performance All-terrain vehicle manufactured by Honda powersports. It was produced from 2004 to 2014. Engine While the CRF450R and the TRX450R share the same displacement number, there are very few of the same components bet ...

ATV *

Honda S500 The S500 was the second production car from Honda (and its first passenger automobile), released in 1963, following the T360 truck into production by four months. It was a larger-displacement variant of the S360 roadster which, though developed ...

convertible *

Honda Goldwing The Honda Gold Wing is a series of touring motorcycles manufactured by Honda. Gold Wings feature shaft drive and a flat engine. Mooted by press in September 1974 as "The world's biggest motor cycle manufacturer's first attack on the over-750cc ...

motorcycle * 1960 Honda 2RC143 racing motorcycle originally ridden by

Jim Redman James Albert Redman, (born 8 November 1931) is a British-born Zimbabwean former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1959 to 1966. Redman is notable for being a six-time Grand Prix road racing world c ...

Honda S2000 The Honda S2000 is an Roadster (automobile), open top sports car that was manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda, from 1999 until 2009. First shown as a concept car called the SSM at the Tokyo Motor Show#1995, Tokyo Motor Show in ...

Roadster *

Honda NSX The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seat, mid-engined coupe sports car manufactured by Honda. The origins of the NSX trace back to 1984, with the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental) concept, which was a mid-eng ...

-R sports car *

Honda Fireblade The Honda Fireblade is a family of sport motorcycles manufactured by Honda since 1992. The first model was designed by Tadao Baba. * CBR900RR, 1992–1995 ** CBR919RR, 1996–1999 ** CBR929RR, 2000–2001 ** CBR954RR, 2002–2003 * CBR1000RR T ...

sport bike A sport bike (sports motorcycle, or sports bike) is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...

(2010 omit) *

Honda RA272 The Honda RA272 was a Formula One racing car designed by Yoshio Nakamura and Shoichi Sano for the 1965 Formula One season. It was the first Japanese car to win in Formula One. Concept A successor to the Honda RA271, the RA272 was noticeable mainly ...

F1 race car *

BAR 007 Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

F1 race car (2010 omit) *

Honda VFR1200 The Honda VFR1200F is the 7th generation Honda sport touring motorcycle from the VF and VFR line motorcycles powered by a transverse mounted V4 engine. The VFR1200F has several new technologies including the first dual clutch transmission offer ...

sport bike (2010 inclusion) * Honda Offshore powerboat using Honda BF225 outboard engine * Honda branded

Hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

(2010 omit) *

Honda HA-420 HondaJet The Honda HA-420 HondaJet is a light business jet produced by the Honda Aircraft Company of Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Original concepts of the aircraft started in 1997 and were completed in 1999. It took its maiden flight on De ...

aeroplane (2010 inclusion) *

(2010 inclusion) *

robot (2010 inclusion) * Honda Scoopy SH125i scooter (2010 inclusion) * Honda (solar)power generator (2010 inclusion)

Sources

The Inspiration Room Daily review
on which this article is partly based and contains link to an officially hosted version of the commercial British television commercials 2000s television commercials Advertising campaigns 2005 in British television Wieden+Kennedy