VIDEO: Mazda launches “Driving Matters” campaign

Mazda Driving Matters - A Driver's Life

Many automakers claim to sell cars that are fun-to-drive, but is there anyone walks that walk more than Mazda right now? Communicating that message to the unwashed masses, on the other hand, hasn’t always been easy. Thus, the Hiroshima company’s long-standing “Zoom-Zoom” catchphrase — practically nostalgic itself after 15 years in use — will now take a back seat to a new one: Driving Matters. To the enthusiast who is sick of committee-built cars it’s as much a tagline as it is a plea to the broader public.

The first spot under this new battle cry is a sentimental one called “A Driver’s Life.” In it, a teen goes from learner’s permit through all the stages of automotive life and ends up in a place where most JNCers can identify with. It certainly knows how to grab an enthusiast by the feels — yes, I know the ND Miata is about to drop, but I swear when the main character opens the garage door I thought we were going to see an NA project car — but will it resonate with the average buyer?

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16 Responses to VIDEO: Mazda launches “Driving Matters” campaign

  1. Jimbob-racing says:

    Bravo Mazda!

    While I was rooting for the garage door to open to show his original NA, I wasn’t disappointed one bit to see the ND. I just wish more of the general public was still passionate about cars.

  2. Negishin no Keibajo says:

    Now, can they make it for every other industry in the US? Forgetting your roots seems to be “the thing” to do here in the US. There’s seems to be precious little of remembering your roots (at the Industrial level) here. Hope it changes… Hope that the younger generation still enjoys and pays respect to what stirs a passion in them. Waiting for ND w/ Hardtop (Rainy country here…).

    Thanks for the great piece.

  3. River says:

    This looks like the start of something great, however I do feel that Toyota did it better with their ‘The World Is One’ campaign. Maybe it hit me harder as an owner of an AE86, however It didn’t feel like an advertisement for their current line up of cars like the Mazda campaign — great to see, nonetheless.

    Toyota’s campaign if you hadn’t already seen it
    https://youtu.be/SM8sdErt4X0

  4. Toyotageek says:

    My wife who works for Mazda showed me this yesterday when it debuted.

    I liked it. 🙂

    And some of those roads looked vaguely familiar to some driven on the Touge California….

  5. Adam Campbell says:

    Love it, I wish MMC would run ads to remind the public of their “roots”. People come up to me all the time to check out my many random Nostalgic Mitsus and late models and tell me about the Mitsu or DSM they had as a teenager and how much they loved their machine.

  6. burabuda says:

    @miata drivers if you must hotdog on the corners at least don’t cross the double yellow geesh

  7. Serg says:

    This ad should have ended with the ND getting T boned by a CX9 and the guy being crushed because Mazda built a 2 ton soft roader to sell to people who use it for things a station wagon does just as well, and a 2 ton vehicle hitting an 1100kg vehicle usually leaves the 1100kg vehicle a lot worse off.

    Mazda – Driving Matters, other road users don’t.

  8. Tj. says:

    Is that Aaron Paul doing the voice over?

  9. Seiko The Neko says:

    It sounds like Mr. Regular from RCR!

  10. Clay says:

    Not designed by committee? I know 3 people who were on the committee that designed the first-gen Miata.

  11. Mike McCarthy says:

    “it just feels right”

  12. Dallas D. says:

    I found the Mazda commercial inspiring. As was said above, few others are walking the walk. Mazda’s point is that the ND is like the NA; that Mazda is still producing fun, which they are. A project NA in the garage would’ve been awesome, but they do have to sell the ND, or we won’t get an NE.

    They should produce an alternate online-only version, with a project NA in the garage!

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