The racing-inspired Honda Civic Type R has never been available in America. But that hasn’t stopped people from driving it. For years, hardcore Type R fans have turned to the only place they could get behind the wheel of one in the U.S.: video games. So to launch the Type R in the U.S., we held a one-of-a-kind race that bridged two diverse fan bases: racing enthusiasts and gamers. R vs. R was a mixed reality race between a real Type R driven by a pro IndyCar driver, and a virtual Type R driven by a pro gamer. PRESS: It was picked up by over 100 news outlets in over 30 countries, including The New York Times, BBC Top Gear, Yahoo!, MSN, PSFK, Ad Age, VR Scout, Motor 1, The Drive, and Drive Mag.
RESULTS: 123MM+ PR impressions / 136MM+ Media impressions / 10MM+ Video views / Sold out the first two production runs of the Civic Type R.
Clio Sports Bronze
One Show Merit
Webby Nominee
Shorty Awards Winner + Finalist
FWA
Bestadsontv
Gold Addy
2 x Silver Addy
RESULTS: 123MM+ PR impressions / 136MM+ Media impressions / 10MM+ Video views / Sold out the first two production runs of the Civic Type R.
Clio Sports Bronze
One Show Merit
Webby Nominee
Shorty Awards Winner + Finalist
FWA
Bestadsontv
Gold Addy
2 x Silver Addy
We used YouTube pre-roll videos, social videos, gifs, Twitter polls, and Instagram stories drove people to watch the race.
To make the race possible, the real Civic Type R was outfitted with a custom augmented reality windshield. It used data from several sources (Microsoft Forza, Google Earth,
and GPS data) and allowed the race car driver to see the gamer’s position on the track at all times.
and GPS data) and allowed the race car driver to see the gamer’s position on the track at all times.
A week after the race, media on Microsoft’s Xbox platform challenged gamers to download the virtual Type R and beat Rahal’s time.
Not many people could get close to his time.
The poster I made using mixed media. Acrylic, pen, and colored pencil over photograph with CGI elements.
