Visual effects artist makes epic ad to sell his '96 Suzuki Vitara

Read Story Transcript

It's time to sell your car.

Do you: a) put an ad in the classifieds listing its attributes but failing to mention the broken air-conditioning; or b) make an epic short film in which your used car drives underwater, in outer space, and between the legs of a Tyrannosaurus Rex? 

When Eugene Romanovsky decided to put his 1996 Suzuki Vitara on the market, he went with option (b). And he went all the way with it — creating what looks like a trailer for the best movie about a vintage Vitara ever made. 

As It Happens host Carol Off reached Romanovsky in Tel Aviv, Israel. 

Carol Off: Eugene, how did you manage to find some dinosaurs to get into your advertisement?

Eugene Romanovsky: Dinosaurs? You know, it's from Jurassic Park. It's from one of the movies I like.

CO: In fact, every scene is from a movie, isn't it?

ER: Yes, except one or two scenes that are from a Jeep ad and one is from an underwater shooting from some guy. 

CO: Why did you decide to make this ad instead of just putting it on a classifieds section or something?

ER:  Actually, I started from making a simple poster — one page with some text. I decided that I needed to add a Suzuki logo for a more elegant look. I started to search on Google and I thought maybe I can do a little more. Maybe I can do some kind of GIF or something small to attract more attention. The day after that I finished with the rough cut of two minutes of what you see now. 

CO: How do you make a Suzuki Vitara that's 20 years old look sexy?

ER: Do you think it looks sexy?

CO: Yeah, it does.

ER: Give me a second... I need to think about it. Why is this so sexy? It's a black car, okay? It's a car that looks like a small beast on the road. When I drive everybody gives me a pass. I don't know. It has this attitude. You know how many people like this kind of car? It is small but it is very capable on off-road. It can drive anywhere. It's a legend. 

CO: So did anyone of these millions of people buy your car?

ER: I got a lot of offers. There were some people who wanted it shipped to Mexico, Brazil, United States and other places around the world. Then some guy that never saw the video saw it on the street, here in Tel Aviv. He came to me and asked me to sell it to him — and I sold it.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Eugene Romanovsky.