Great Moments in Advertising: 1987 Honda CBR600 Hurricane

By Peter Tanshanomi Feb 23, 2010


The Ninja-dissing TV ad Honda used to launch its brand new 600 Hurricane in 1987 was so skillfully executed that I’ve clearly recalled it for 23 years. While going through some old VHS tapes last week, I stumbled across a copy of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWijiasEdxc

The 30-second spot managed to do the near-impossible: comparative selling that doesn’t really doesn’t do anything to highlight the competition. This ad cleverly plays on the perception that Kawasaki’s current bike was the bike to beat, while simultaneously making it clear their new bike intended to kick Kawasaki right in the Ninja.

GO HERE to view the video if the YouTube link dies.

By Peter Tanshanomi

Tanshanomi is Japanese [単車のみ] for "motorcycle(s) only." Though primarily tasked with creating two-wheel oriented content for Hooniverse, Pete is a lover of all sorts of motorized vehicles.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here