FunkyTown!

still from Areva´s commercial.

Areva's ultra cool nuclear advertisement above was produced by H5. H5 graphic design and animation style is also recognizable in several music videos they have done in the past ( namely Röyksopp "Remind me" an amazing video full of diagrams that makes any kid dream of ultimately became an engineer). Wikipedia lists some of their filmography (in french). Their work usually features some state-of-the art science and i dare to say Massive Attack video "Special Cases" has made much more for genetics education than many teachers. Some samples of their work can be seem on their pages. "Wuzz" for instance, praises 3D meshes by building a memorable mesh world for diamond mining; others are a tribute to high-tech robotics.

Areva´s advertisement is like an excellent nuclear science inphography in moving pictures. Starts with mining the Uranium in Canada, then shows the yellow cake and the enrichment process, the nuclear reactor and the power plant, finishing with the electricity flowing everywhere and powering the whole Shanghai city, including a dance floor where people dance to the background music of the advertisement - "FunkyTown" by Lipps Inc. (a bit 80's isn't it?). As I recall it, the music talks about an imaginary place that "keeps me groovin' with some energy". How appropriate for an energy advertisement can that be?

This 45 seconds of well researched and well done work are a masterpiece of advertisement. They surely convey the idea that nuclear is good, clean, highly technological and supportive of modern lifestyles that bring lots of pleasure to people. The concepts of globalization and sustainable environment are cleverly part of the advertisement. Nevertheless, a non nuclear supporter decided to make a new version of the advertisement showing the dark side of nuclear.

A very informative video about the EPR (source and producers unknown) can also be found in Youtube.


Source: Although I always loved the Areva advertisement I did not know who made it until the moment Alexander Trevi enlightened me. Many thanks!