Watch the full ad here:

Graeme's thoughts:

"Honda’s Cog isn’t just an advert, it’s a work of commercial art executed with such precision that it became folklore. First aired in 2003, the two-minute film shows a chain reaction of car parts knocking, rolling, and swinging into one another until a finished Accord glides into shot. No CGI, no trick edits - just engineering, timing, and patience. It reportedly took 606 takes to capture. That obsessive attention to craft mirrors exactly what Honda wanted to say about its cars: beautifully engineered, relentlessly tested, quietly brilliant.

Why is it the best British TV ad of all time? Because it rewrote the rules. At a time when most car advertising relied on sweeping landscapes or lifestyle clichés, Cog slowed everything down and invited viewers to marvel at the detail. The result was hypnotic. You couldn’t look away. The ad went viral before “viral” was even a word people used, spreading through email chains and early forums.

From a marketing science perspective, it’s a masterclass. Fame campaigns - those that capture attention well beyond paid media - are proven to drive long-term brand growth. Cog did exactly that. It delivered emotion (awe and wonder), distinctiveness (nobody else was making work like this), and fame (you talked about it the next day). According to IPA effectiveness principles, that combination; emotion, distinctiveness, fame, is the holy trinity for building mental availability. Accord sales jumped, but more importantly, Honda’s brand meaning shifted: they became the carmaker obsessed with engineering wonder.

And let’s not forget the people behind it. My old mates Ben Walker &

Matt Gooden were the creative geniuses who made it happen. They didn’t just sell a car, they created a cultural event. A masterpiece. That’s why two decades later people still talk about it.

Honda Cog isn’t just Honda’s best ad. It’s Britain’s best."