MINI Cooper - Pitch/Treatment

LOGLINE:

Can cars dance? We find out in this playful duel of a “meet cute” between a girl and a MINI Cooper, as each tries to one-up the other with her/its eye-catching dance moves across a variety of exuberant musical styles, from EDM and hip hop to tango and soul. Think: Gene Kelly or Michael Jackson meets Herbie the car. At the end, the girl hops into the MINI through the sunroof and speeds away, having found her perfect match.

TREATMENT:

Renowned for its nimbleness and easy handling, the MINI Cooper is also loved around the world for its one-of-a-kind, winning personality. Some cars just have one that announces itself from the moment you set eyes on it, and no other feels quite as playful, upbeat and full of life as the MINI. Like you, it’s young and fun, with a flair for fashion and a sense of humor. It even moves like you, gracefully but with attitude. Here’s a story of Girl Meets MINI told not with words, but though the universal language of movement.

We open close on a pair of women’s shoes walking across polished concrete. They pass in front of one tire, then another. In the background, we hear city sounds and muffled music. A wide shot reveals the coolest girl you’ve ever seen bobbing her head along to her headphones, inside a bright and massive parking garage. She’s young and wearing skinny jeans, a denim jacket and a haircut that tells you she’s not afraid to take chances. We hear a little of what she’s listening to: something cool, something electronic. The car she’s passing, a black and red MINI Cooper flashes its headlights. She stops, confused; there’s no one inside.There it goes again, except this time, the headlights flash to the rhythm of the music in her headphones. Amused, she waves one hand side to side, to the beat. The car follows suit by blasting the same music through its speakers and activating its windshield wipers, mimicking her hand-waving exactly. Okay. She lowers her headphones around her neck.

We stay on this music as she busts out a complex dance move. It’s modern and edgy, appropriate for this genre. Whoa. It’s here that we realize she’s a solid dancer. When she’s finished, she motions to the MINI Cooper à la Gene Kelly in his famous 1944 dance-off with an animated Jerry Mouse. The MINI Cooper’s engine roars to life as if to accept her challenge. Taking advantage of the ample space inside the parking garage, it performs a series of impressive twists and turns, concluding with tightly-rounded doughnuts. As it rolls to a stop and the music fades, she makes a face that says, “Not bad, but not great.” In response, the car plays another song through its speakers—something richer and classical. Think: tango, along the lines of “Por Una Cabeza,” which begins soft and unassumingly, then veers into lush and dramatic orchestral swells.

The MINI takes off once again, this time gliding across the garage, cutting, turning and spinning with the grace and precision of a ballet dancer—albeit one with a 2.0 L 4-cylinder engine. Here, we really get to see the MINI Cooper in all its glory, its sleek contours, vibrant colors, sharp handling and versatility. More than just tricks, we’re witnessing genuine automotive excellence. It’s exciting and somehow emotional—this car expressing itself as a person would, pushing its design and engineering to its limits, and then some.

Seamlessly, as the music continues, the girl responds with a flawless routine of her own that shows off her classical chops, executing grande jetés, pirouettes and tour en l’airs that seem to defy gravity. Her gorgeous movements, fit for the Bolshoi Ballet, are a strange and engrossing counterpoint to her modern street clothes. If you passed her on the street, you’d never guess she was capable of such passion and fluidity. The MINI sits there, watching. There’s a hint of something sensual here. Is it love?

When she’s finished, she wipes the sweat from her forehead. In kind, the MINI squirts its wiper fluid and squeaks its windshield clean with its wipers. It then switches music yet again to hip hop. Determined, the girl nods OK to accept this new challenge. Now, it’s an impressive hip hop dance routine, with flourishes of breakdancing, finished off with a series of hand claps, slaps and foot stomps timed perfectly to the beat. She gestures to the car. Your turn. It waits a moment, then—remaining still—opens and shuts its doors, hood and gas cover with a series of clicks and latches, again, timed perfectly to the beat. It finishes by sliding open its sunroof.

The girl smiles. With one final move, she gracefully spins, slides up to the roof the car and slips down into the driver’s seat. To mark this new union, she presses a finger to the MINI’s stereo panel to select music that’s more feel-good, like SAFIA’s “Make Them Wheels Roll.” With another smile that says she’s ready for an adventure, she hits the gas and speeds away.

Superimposed across the screen: “THE ALL-NEW MINI COOPER. HOW DO YOU ROLL?”