Carsome's Hari Raya ad calls for honesty and transparency

Revealing its first campaign for Southeast Asian car ecommerce platform Carsome since winning its competitive pitch in April, VMLY&R Commerce has come up with a fun spot called ‘Setelus Raya Carsome’ (Make It A Transparent/Honest Raya with Carsome).

Running in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, the ad plays off of a "good old Raya family rivalry" represented by three women who try to one up each other on their imported celebratory gifts. The eldest, however, aims to teach a lesson by declaring Raya is about "sincerity and honesty, not just showing off!" 

Carsome, you see, is the epitome of honesty and sincerity because it delivers the car to you and are sure to inspect it beforehand.

Yup, that's the logic. 

The agency used insight from Muslim Intel Lab, VMLY&R’s data and insights hub for Muslim consumers, and also looked to reinforce Carsome’s brand promises of providing a hassle-free service based on honesty and trust.

“A central theme that emerged was around the importance of transparency. That was the connection with Carsome’s purpose of transforming the used car industry, an industry traditionally marred by distrust," said Chan Woei Hern, VMLY&R executive creative director, Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Since honesty and transparency is so important, Ad Nut feels the need to deliver some unvarnished feedback:

• If you want to take a stand against showing-off, don't do so by ordering the most expensive showy item.
• Having a retailer provide you with the very product that you paid for in good condition merely shows us that it knows how to complete a transaction. It's not a great example of extraordinary honesty and sincerity. 

In Ad Nut's mind, there's probably a better plot to deliver the research findings and brand message than this one.  

The digital brand campaign will span film and radio, digital ads for Grab, Facebook and Carousell with a full social media campaign engaging influencers on Instagram and Facebook.

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.